Cognizance
by Hell Vanguard - Silverphin
Summary: What would have happened if Kana Ienaga managed to keep her eyes open on the terrifying night when she was taken by Kyuso? What would she see and deduce about the environment she was in? To whom would she entrust her information? Rated T for some gore and mind boggle.
1. Snatch

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Nura Mago.

**Author Notes: This chapter has been revised from its previous publication. ****The scene described is the combination of both the happenings in the manga and the anime. Please, I hope you can excuse the OOCness. And thanks for trying this amateur ranting, hope it was/is not a waste of your time. :(**

Evening had just come. After saying goodbye and parting from the rest of the Kiyojuji Paranormal Patrol, the hazel eyed brunette, Kana Ienaga walked along the footpath. The area she was in was not quite busy at this time, seldom shoppers or business people bustling in and out of the shops, or occasional teenagers walking and complaining about schoolwork and mostly people stopped outside the shops to talk with acquaintances. There were so many shops around and each one of them had bright lighting, such that it was difficult to imagine that it was still night time so long as one kept with the pathway. Frequent horns from passing cars too filled the air.

Some tapping could be heard behind her. Footsteps... from a heel. They did not synchronize with her own and, in fact, she could feel something of a beat, comprised of two noises whenever she took a step. Was there some...was she a target tonight? Her pace quickened. And yet, two noises still remained, the gap between the two being the same, though their tempo was faster.

The twelve year old swallowed and blinked.

She walked, solitary, along the footpath, past these shops, passing through a shady looking district, a place, dangerous for youngsters. She only intended to pass it as quickly as she could and be on her way when-

"Hey, little lady, in the school uniform," hollered a woman to a black headed young girl, about the brunette's own age, in a cream sweater and cobalt blue skirt, "Where are you off to?"

-drove the previous omen, out of her mind.

Compared to the adults around her, the girl was much shorter and now looked intimidated as older women with more painted faces, and men with unpleasant grins on their faces literally looked down to her.

They snickered sinisterly at her and she awkwardly tried to withdraw her gaze.

"Yura-chan!" shouted the brunette, instantly causing the heads in front to turn to her, including the addressed person's head.

"Ah…um…Ienaga-san…?"

"This isn't a good place to be at this hour," informed the brunette, giving a small smile.

Then she walked closer to her friend.

"Let's go. You live alone, right?"

"I still need a lot more training. Even though I believed they were there, I must have really insulted Nura-kun…"

Beside her now was the black haired, slightly sweating, found-to-be onmyouji, Yura Keikain. The girl was shorter than Kana from a head yet was from a greater proportion, braver. Although still unnerved at seeing a horrible, beastly rat scampering around the 'haunted' house, the brunette managed a smile as she saw her friend looking so serious. Even when she had first been recruited by Kiyotsugu Kiyoujuji, she had had something of an insipid expression on her face despite explaining sinister motives of youkai. Thanks to her fueling the wavy haired leader's excitement, she and Jirou Shima had been dragged around all over the old mansion, searching for supernatural beings.

"That rat sure was scary, wasn't it?" the brunette remarked mildly.

The ebony haired one looked up at her, the vapid look returning to her face.

"I'm so sorry for scaring you," she said apologetically.

"What? Not at all, it's alright," denied her friend with a cheerful look.

They were forced to part as a sigh accompanied the pushing of their shoulders by a man who was drunkenly slouching off in the opposite direction.

"'Scuse me…" he exhaled and walked off.

Kana narrowed her eyes at the departing, broad figure, then signaled to Yura to keep coming with her.

They continued walking in that area, quite bright because of more colorful lighting, even the floor reflecting their vibrant colors. But then, both girls gave a start when a young man in a suit came in front of them and began to bear his gaze down at them, hands in his pockets.

"Waa. This girl looks so sad! But I've found you now!" He went behind them and spread his arms in supposed delight, "Why don't I take you back to my store- or are you on your way somewhere? That's great too! Come hang out with me-" he continued with a cheerful demeanor.

The brunette raised an eyebrow in disdainful scrutiny while her black haired classmate drew closer to her in further perturbation. Kana snappily turned to the other direction, seizing Yura's hand.

"Let's go, Yura-chan," and they started to step forward.

"Huh?" exclaimed the onmyouji softly, "Wait a minute."

"What is it?" asked her companion in surprise.

"Get back, Ienaga-san," the frightened look was now replaced by a darker one.

"Yura-chan?" losing focus, the brunette began to feel uncertain as she observed the change in Yura's face.

They turned behind them where they saw more such men. Back to the front again and there were more here too. The one in white suit at the middle, with a rose attached near his neck, leered at them. He had fair skin and blond hair reaching down to his shoulders but some traces of hair surrounded his eyes, only mildly attractive.

With a barely audible sniff, Yura's eyes narrowed.

"You smell bad,"

He smirked toothily.

"What did you say?"

A small crowd of these suit wearing men started drawing nearer towards them leaving the two girls no choice but to back into the gap between two buildings.

"Yura, who are these guys?" asked the brunette shakily.

"They're the types I talked about earlier, with plenty of intelligence," her cream sleeved shoulder pressed closer to Kana's and she backed away further, "but with no rationality,"

Kana gasped.

"They're youkai?"

"There's no need to be so unfriendly my kittens," trilled the yokai in disguise, "You're friends with the Third, aren't you?"

Then he brushed his hand against his forehead and when his face was then revealed, it was found to be brown and hairy, like a monstrous rat's, "The night is long…let's gnaw on you until you're nothing but bones,"

Hearing such hostile words announcing a gruesome end, Kana could not help herself. The man had used a terribly literal term, making it clear that he intended to do nothing but just that. From his face, it certainly looked they would be appetizing, more than enough for him. The brunette's gaze fell on his teeth- his fangs...thought about how they would pierce her body, keep piercing until there was nothing soft enough left to cut. The pain was of course, beyond her comprehension and if she were to experience it tonight...her shoulders trembled, until she was worse than a cellphone on vibrate, letting out small gasp the more she looked at her enemy and heard his cohorts jeer evilly. Her shrill scream pierced the remoteness of the area, followed by even more intense shivering of the brunette's shoulders. Dismayingly, it seemed the area would still remain just as relatively silent.

Yura Keikain, on the other hand, gave a wry smirk.

"Don't get fresh with me. I'm not a big fan of rodents,"

How on earth could she so pluckily say that?

"Get 'em," announced the blond leader.

As some youkai rushed towards the younger schoolgirl wildly, she made sequential footsteps on the ground.

"_Uho, Tenho,Tennai, Tensho,Tenho tennin!"_ she stopped and gripped tightly the paper ofuda in her hand,_ "Kenkon genkoritei! _Come forth, my shikigami! TANRO!"

Bright, fierce red flames appeared from the ofuda she had thrown. They transformed into icy blue and soon their hue and shape changed to white for there to materialize an enormous, fearsome, yellow-eyed, white mane wolf, tall as the summoning girl herself, with inky markings on the area of its legs. It galloped forward and right before the brunette's eyes, captured the ayakashi's head with its paw and squashed it on the ground. It also easily dispatched with the other attackers by using its fangs.

"That's a good boy Tanro," a smiling onmyouji stroked its fur.

"Damn that girl," muttered the one in front of the group, "She's pretty strong,"

While Kana was busy observing, she did not notice that comparatively regular sized rats but with more prickly fur and beastly features were creeping up on her. And by the time she realized it, they had surrounded her silhouette backed up against the wall. Letting out another high-pitched cry, she alerted Yura to her distress.

"Help… please help me," tears started to fill her eyes as the leader's earlier words still rang in her head.

"Stop! She has nothing to do with this! Just let her go!" she listened to the onmyouji's infuriated shout but after that paid no more attention.

She began to fidget as much as she could against the wall, trying to prevent the hairy horrors from touching and maybe actually gnawing on her. Having observed what the onmyouji just did, she wanted her to direct that montrous wolf shikigami to her side, but that desire was fading as two of the rodents actually crept under her shirt. Swaying to and fro, she managed to shake them off.

Letting out grunts, she also tried to raise a hand against the rodents but they chittered threateningly at her.

These rats…they did not simply look and act ferocious, when Kana looked in their eyes, she felt nothing besides helplessness and a certain urge to protect her skin from their touch- or else it would be shredded, she felt. In short, summoning the courage to even try to resist, was impossible.

A sound of harsh contact being made against a cheek drew her eyes to the front. The Keikain's heiress's face was swerved to one side, as though slapped, and her irises were dilated in shock. As she collapsed to the ground, the brunette tearfully yelled, "Yura!"

The blond person had picked up the scrap of paper- an ofuda and clenched it in his hand. Beneath all her fright, the brunette felt a surge of anger she tried not to show. Yura, who had just tried to protect her, as though made for the purpose even though they had recently been acquainted…Kana understood that it was her job, but still, she could have gone through with it, without worrying about her but she did not. Instead, she embraced the notion of defeat to save her from these hairy shredders. And now, thanks to her fear which she had so carelessly shown (it felt careless as the Keikain's sound of collapsing to the ground brought home the increase in gravity of their situation), it looked like neither one of them would live this night.

Her shivering stopped very slightly, but it was more out of shock than anger. There were dead ends everywhere. Screaming was the only thing she could have done, which was out of the question. But the brunette knew one thing, perhaps as redemption for not being able to help her dear friend: she was not getting humiliated like her, just to be knocked out cold- not for both their sakes. Doing her best to ignore the rodents, trying to convince her frightened-to-death self as best she could that this was the least she could do, for the one who had just been saving her life, as the men drew near her, she let a soft sigh escape her mouth and then slumped to the ground, slowly closing her eyes. With the sigh, she managed to half her trembling. Falling to the ground with a convincing thud, she feigned unconsciousness for- she did not know which purpose.

One of the men in the suits, she could hear, drew near her, his feet grating against the ground as he dragged them lazily.

"Can't handle much, this one," he jested scornfully, tapping his knuckles against her head.

Sounds of rustling told her that her friend's limp body was now being lifted. Then one of these ayakashi came near her and she felt rough hands grab her from the waist. _Stay away from me, you trash_, she wanted to say. However she struggled not to grimace and let herself be slung on the youkai's shoulder.

"Send someone to alert the Third Head," drawled the leader's voice from ahead of her, "Treat them courteously. They _are _precious bait,"

The brunette's head was filled with nothing but the desire to escape with the onmyouji so she decided to make the most of her accepted farce. She realized she had heard this person say 'third' before. Though in this situation, it should have mattered little to her, she did not fail to observe that the sentence suggested a person needed to know of their capture due to either benefit or loss. Thus, she did not place much hope in this individual, but, intended to do whatever she could to not let them have their way with her, whether or not it worked.

Realizing that her eyes were clamped shut, she tried to smooth creases on her face in her current hanging position, as they set off to wherever their hideout was.


	2. A Kitten's Ruminating

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

**Author Notes****: My apologies for updating so late. I will do my best to be more regular and update weekly but I did not imagine my story to have this much support. ****From this chapter, this fiction's plot moves into AU. I hope the OOCness can be excused, please.**

**Replies to anonymous reviewers**

**Snowy1219: Thank you so much! :3 I'm relieved this rambling was not a waste of your time! I hope this chapter does not disappoint you, and if it does, I'm sorry :\**

**Guest: I'm so sorry I could not update sooner. But I will try from now on! Thank you for giving this rant a chance!**

**Guest: I really was not expecting so much support! Thank you very much, it means a lot!**

**Big thanks to Lord Nayrael, Awesome DT, Rose Rain 7, Dennou Writer, Guest, Guest, Snowy1219, Crossover to the Dark Side, Thantos the Forsaken, Izzywalz1999 and Uchiha Sakura 193. And I really appreciate all the other readers who are managing to put up with all this!**

**I really think I am going to mishandle this though. Again, apologies from an amateur! :[**

* * *

The lights were brightly lighting the luxurious hall whose walls were bronze and engraved with panels and designs. In the middle stood a throne like sofa on a lavender sheet spread on lime green, square paned floor, surrounded by people in suits. People whom the still conscious girl had now understood to be rats in disguise. The only reason she had opened her eyes at all was because a lime green curtain was drawn over the container in which Yura and she were kept. The container gave her a horrible feeling of possible lifelong captivity since it was exactly like the one where zoo animals were kept.

Her eyes kept widening more and more at what she was currently hearing: the voice of her childhood friend and in fact, the person she had not expected to see until morning.

"Y-You tricked me…" the weakness in his tone drifted clearly through the muffling effect of the curtain. A contrast so stark with his cheerful, helpful light tenor that the brunette wanted to rush out to check on him, ask him what on earth he was doing here

"Sorry," began a falsely oily voice she was now unpleasantly familiar with, "I told my men to give you a warm welcome but they misunderstood,"

It became clear to the twelve year old that the next parts would require more attention. Ever since she had had the whim to just play along with her kidnappers, she had resolved to use her brain like never before as she could obviously do nothing with her body, not against youkai especially. She was losing the will with each passing moment, her hold on the tiny sliver of hope that they would make some kind of advantageous mistake, slipping.

"No matter how cowardly and useless you may be, you're still, after all, the future Third Head of the Nura Clan,"

Kana Ienaga's mouth flopped open in shock and was about to emit a sound when she hurriedly covered it with her hand. She went over and over the twelve fated words as much as possible in the gap of his speech, her eyes trembling. As an innumerable amount of questions passed in her head with each repetition, she started letting out tiny, meaningless gasps out of sheer speechlessness.

"Let the girls go!" exclaimed the earlier new arrival, preceded by a gasp of pain.

"The emblem of the Nura Clan no longer has the power to satisfy the desires of our clan," went on the voice of the kidnapper, smoothly.

At this point, Kana's head was no longer being stormed by the questions. It was reduced to focusing on selected keywords in the dialogue and trying to make sense out of them. The word 'clan' was also now added to that process.

"No one cares about honor or about loyalties anymore. Those are all things of the past. Do you understand?"

He must have given a signal, for at that moment, the curtain was opened on both of them, seemingly unconscious. The light of the room seeped in, threatening to make the brunette, who had in the nick of time assumed a swooned pose, furrow her eyebrows.

"Kana-chan! Keikain-san!"

The shouts of her childhood friend rang in her ears, bringing a confused mix of new sensations into her already packed mind. If she had to prioritize and was given the chance to say something, it would be different than how she would have reacted if the black-haired onmyouji was not with her. _Rikuo-kun, please, just… __**stop**_...this was _not _helping her. But, for some reason, his yell made a feeling of relief pass through her which she could not explain.

Through her ears, she caught him making his way to their prison when a soft thud followed by stuttering sounds from the boy. A harder thud indicated that he had fallen to the floor. Before she could ponder much over that, the leader of this group went on.

"I do this for the sake of your clan. It won't be able to survive with the old school youkai you lead. I want you to announce that you will not become the Third Head."

"O-Okay," stammered Rikuo Nura, still out of breath, "You'll let the girls go if I do, right?"

"By tonight I want you to inform to every clan leader in the country of your decision. And if you fail at completing what I just asked of you, I will kill both these girls at the very first light of dawn."

The rustling of clothes indicated that he was getting up. The brunette could hear her evidently hurt friend leaving the premises with slow, unsteady footsteps. She waited with baited breath for more to happen, all the while overloading her frightened mind with more questions. Only after she heard the doors clang shut did she start thinking about all of them one at a time.

'_Send someone to inform the Third Head,'_ this rat had said back then. While thinking about it, she had assumed he would be someone who needed the young Keikain or herself for something. And this Third Head turned out to belong to a clan called 'Nura' and was her old friend 'Rikuo'. She considered whether she had mistaken his voice but she concluded that she knew it far too well.

"_My grandpa's the Supreme Commander of youkai!" exclaimed the young brunet, raising both small fists into the air and standing up amongst all the seated children in his class._

Kana nearly gasped in disbelief. It was unnerving, how the memory from so long ago had popped up at such a sudden time. If she put this and the recent events together…even then it seemed nonsensical to her. More faces of the same person flashed in her head over and over again until with a grimace, she shut them out. If she did not accept this fact without questioning it for the time being at least, her whole farce would get discovered as her restlessness would force her to shout his name at thin air.

The rat talked about 'clans'. Youkai clans. His was one of them and (ignoring another shocked mental yell) Rikuo's was one of them too. She tried to focus on what was more important for her and Yura because she doubted she would understand much of this by thinking about it in her state. She went over that conversation with her future involved – what the rat demanded from her classmate. He had agreed, that much was easy to see but…

"…_you'll let the girls go if I do right?"_

"_By tonight I want you to inform every clan leader in the country of your decision…"_

Her paranoia must have increased manifold as she found so many uncertainties in those words, she was amazed the brunet had not seen them too. Had he actually said yes to his question? He had said he would kill them at dawn, but there were plenty of other things he could do with them. He may even keep them alive but not give them back as his words had only talked about killing, only giving his orders…with no guarantees, not even a simple yes.

How could he fall for this?

Even she was able to tell – his rat face with bared fangs and dilated pupils, alight with savage hunger…all of their faces, even those of the little ones'.

Smooth clanking of multiple pairs of shoes against the ground grew steadily louder. There was someone approaching them, another one of the rats here.

"What a waste!" his lazy drawl of a voice said, "I mean you're not really going to hand these kittens to them are you?"

The question of truth…knowing he was looking straight at them did not make it any easier to keep an impassive face.

There was a louder thud of flesh against flesh heard, immediately followed by a breathless choking sound. Kana felt an eerie shiver pass through her as she realized that the sound, the groans did not stop but kept growing fainter and lower as though 'fading out' of the place. Then the hall was silent.

"I don't want to hear stupid questions," the remorseless leader commented, "These beauties are too good to let go. Don't worry; we're all going to have plenty of fun with them."

The reality of their situation, once again, sank in with horrible gravity. At that moment, she berated herself for even trying to see a ray of hope. All she was doing was being cruel to herself. What did it matter who they were, what they wanted and how could she even think that playing faint would help at all? All of his subordinates were just as excited as him, and were not solely obeying orders but also instincts. Why would they ever let them go? She was going to be chewed up just like a rice ball and nothing was going to change that. If this was not bad enough, Yura would be with her till the end, an onmyouji stronger than a normal human girl but driven to the same end by trying to save the human.

Her childhood friend (_whoever_ he was or was not anymore) had tried the same and had been kicked out and likely forced to give up something big. It had to be big or these impatient, ravenous looking youkai would not have waited this long. No matter which way she looked at it right now, she was the one who had ended up dragging them both down. It had seemed so easy to call, plead and cry for help to her black-haired class fellow, finding her rescue in the Keikain's abilities. Little had she known that the onmyouji would be willing to go that far for her – reining back her shikigami and allowing herself to be captured, just to stop rats crawling over her. How preposterous a cause it seemed. What was she, compared to the ones who actually tried? Contrasting it to her near end now, she was hoping that she was back in that alleyway with smaller rat youkai creeping under and over her. How hard would chucking them away have been?

* * *

_The atmosphere that Kiyotsugu Kiyoujuji so liked was prevailing for quite long. Jirou Shima's eyes darted back and forth as the wavy haired young man sat with both arms diagonally spread and eyes closed as though meditating. Yura Keikain silently stared at her surroundings with a sort of professional seriousness in her gaze. Their tea was in front of them, for the moment, steaming hot and requiring a little wait before it could be sipped._

"_Yura-chan," began the brunette, simply to keep herself distracted until the expedition began, "Won't you need some help while you start out at our Middle School?"_

_The raven haired girl looked with a slight surprise at the brunette's smiling face._

"_Well, I thought I'd get by somehow, but –,"_

"_Alright!" their 'patrol leader' loudly announced, breaking up their conversation, "Since we have some time before the tea cools a little, let's explore!"_

_Not responding with anywhere near as much enthusiasm, the members of the Paranormal Patrol got up together. As the two girls walked out behind the boys, side by side, Kana began once more._

"_If you like, I'd be happy to give you my phone number! That way you can call anytime you need help!" she proposed brightly._

_With her mouth slightly open and the placid look returning to her face, Yura stared at her for brevity. Then she smiled and reached in her pocket as they walked on the roka. Pulling out a grey money pouch, she handed it to the older girl and said:_

"_Just write it at the back of one of the receipts," _

_As she was told, the twelve-year-old scribbled it at the back of the first receipt she saw. While she was writing, she realized they had fallen behind and the boys had already turned on the corner._

"_Hey! Over here!" came the youkai fanatic's yell once again._

_The onmyouji hurried forward to catch up with them while the student merely paused, contemplating that as big as this house was and as passionate as Kiyotsugu was, using the warmth of the tea had been a poor excuse to do an investigation. Yura had left her pouch with her too, left in such a hurry. The brunette shrugged, put the pouch into her pocket intending to return it later and went forward._

She had thought that **she** could be the one to help her friend. And to think this had all happened mere hours ago…

* * *

Lost in her fearful line of thoughts, she did not immediately react when she heard a soft female moan behind her. Then, there came a gasp.

"Ah, onmyouji girl," observed the rat leader, snidely, "Finally awake I see,"

"Huh? Ienaga-san!" gasped the onmyouji, sounds of her palms colliding with the floor heard as she crawled nearer.

The brunette groaned weakly. She had lost hope as soon as she had heard the youkai's instructions but now she could not continue this farce even if she wanted to. To be exact, there was no point in it.

"I told you she has nothing to do with this!"

How could the young Keikain still care about her? Her own life was in danger too or did she not realize that? But she seemed only concerned about getting her away. If this was an onmyouji's code or pride of some sort, then Kana did not have a chance of understanding it right now.

"Wishing you had this little scrap of paper?" asked the blond, disguised man and the noise of something being chewed and swallowed was heard, "I'm going to teach you that without your shikigami, you're just an ordinary girl."

Surprisingly, after that disturbing statement, footsteps indicated that he was walking away from them. She also guessed that from the sonorous ringing of steel, Yura had gripped the rods of the cage in desperation.

"Ienaga-san, wake up!" she whispered, her voice shaking.

When the brunette did not comply, being unable to face her after the end she felt responsible for bringing them to, the raven haired one crawled over to her again and tapped her head with her hand. Rendered unable to pretend any longer, the brunette, trembling, opened her wide brown eyes to meet another pair of brown ones, narrowed with worry. Blinking twice or thrice since used to black, she saw that the schoolgirl's face was pale, a single drop of sweat trailing on her cheek.

"Y-Yura-chan…" she still did not know what to say to her.

"I'm sorry, Ienaga-san," she gritted her teeth as she said this, "I couldn't protect you at all."

"Please, you can't blame yourself after all this," sniffed the older girl, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. _I'm the only one who should take any blame here. We should have just gone home instead of wandering around. That's only one of the reasons you're in this mess._

"But I –" clearly, the Keikain heiress did not intend to just accept that.

"I-I didn't even get a chance to help you once and-and here you are, risking your life for someone you just met," it seemed very difficult to stop blurting it all out once she started.

Suddenly, Yura's eyes widened. Increasingly getting on the edge, Kana looked around frantically, expecting to see the rats surrounding their cage but it turned out that they were gathered around their leader, discussing something.

"Ienaga-san, my bag…you didn't give it back to me,"

Turning back to her, unable to understand why she would worry about the bag too more than herself, she fished it out of her pocket and handed it over.

"I-I'm sorry, I was going –"

"Hide me. Come in the front and put your face near the bars," hissed the onmyouji urgently, her face turning serious.

The brunette stared with wide open eyes, trying to figure out the intention. But the emergent gaze made her do as she was told and she crawled ahead and gripped the rods just like her friend had a few minutes ago.

Tears had begun falling down as she did not dare see more hope for their fate. This was all she could do, cry and scream…and apparently the former would cover for Yura just fine. These ayakashi seemed most enticed by a girl's distress. Wiping her tears, she gulped as she saw that horrendous natured, blond rat sneer gleefully at her face.

"Did you know?" he asked, walking toward her, getting up from the throne like sofa with his hands in his pockets, his subordinates also walking a little closer for a better look, "Human blood is at its thickest and most delicious, just before dawn?"

She blinked again, her mouth falling slightly open as he bared down on her, her shoulders shaking violently out of terror. In total panic, both inside and out, her eyes darted to the right to avoid looking at him. Here, she thought she saw a natto, bordering a wide eye that was staring at her, peeking from under the couch.

"No one's going to come to your rescue," she was forced to look at him again as he drew in a hand through the bars, which started making its way to her face. Cruel cackling escaped him as he savored her tear streaked face and she closed her eyes, unable to take much of it anymore. His hand had barely made connection with her skin when a voice behind her yelled:

"BUKYOKU!"


	3. Desperate Departure

**Author's Note: I'm back very late again. I'm very sorry but suffice to say that I absolutely detest summers. They never let you do anything but sweat. Miserable excuses are all I can manage, I've been trying to make this longer but I failed. I'm sorry, I know I've done a bad job this time, even though I had fun writing this.**

**Please excuse OOCness. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but some variations in the plot line which ultimately cause the fiction to move in a Parallel Universe direction.**

* * *

"BUKYOKU!"

Kyuso leapt back with a shocked grunt as a red staffed naginata, thrust through the bars, nearly sliced his face in two. Standing with yet two other shikigami at the ready, Yura stared at him, fearless with fierce determination to turn the tables, the black armored, huge samurai standing guard in front of her while Kana staggered fearfully to one side, closer to her friend. This was the ochimunsha shikigami, clear by how two arrows were stuck in his head. His face was covered by flaps with the kanji of his name.

"Stand back, Ienaga-san!" exclaimed the onmyouji firmly, then lowered her face so her expression could not be seen. The brunette did catch her teeth gritted however.

"I will definitely not lose a second time…" she growled with the voice coming out muffled.

Kana barely heard her, her eyes scanning the intimidating shikigami while trembling. Its face was covered by a paper with kanji that her nearly tearful eyes could not read at the moment. Now it was slicing their prison as easily as though cutting through a line of breadsticks. So she was forced to yelp in surprise as a pale hand grabbed her arm and yanked her out of the space now made for them to escape.

The rat youkai all around them had started shifting into their true forms, fanged, wide mouthed faces bursting from their heads and hair growing all over them. The blond playboy became the blond rat with no sense of play left in his face, only surprised fury.

"So, you had another one left, did you?" he rasped, coming closer to them again as the two girls stepped outside the cage.

The samurai shikigami was now waving the naginata fast enough to deal with several anthromorphic rats who seemed to be trying to fall on him and overwhelm him with numbers. Screams and howls of pain indicated how their attempt was going.

The brunette stared sideways, both hands gripping the onmyouji's shoulders while at the same time doing her best not to tremble. Although the situation had changed how she would never have thought it to…it was hard for her to decide who was more intimidating, the youkai or her classmate who had not bothered answering Kyuso's question but changed direction and started walking more quickly. The placid look was back on her face, yet with Bukyoku changing maneuvers to keep their path safe as they broke into a jog, and with her two ofuda raised like she would summon other shikigami at any moment, she had never looked more terrifying to Kana.

The smaller rats who could compare to the average rodent, were swarming the floors, having appeared out of nowhere. The older one of the two girls gritted her teeth to prevent herself from gasping or shouting but they were scampering over to them with alarming speed, their slit-pupiled eyes glowing this time. Yura felt the burden increase on her shoulder.

"We won't get out this way," she muttered to her friend and then cast a sideway glance to where she had seen Kyuso, only to find that he was not there anymore.

"YOU WON'T GET OUT _ANY _WAY!" roared a voice above them.

The young Keikain gasped and the brunette yelled as both their heads turned upwards at the source of the noise. With his fingers curled to make his claws prominent and his teeth spread into a wild snarl, the demented blond was coming straight down at them.

Bukyoku was at their left, throwing off the rats who were desperately trying to score a scratch or a bite and the leader had taken the chance to attack from above.

Before the brunette even had time to glance elsewhere, a hand pushed her far back. The impact was such that she was staggering away uncontrollably, trying to regain her balance and watching as her friend jumped backwards too. The result was that Kyuso landed on an empty spot and the two girls had been separated.

The black headed onmyouji gritted her teeth too now that she saw the position they were in. Highly reminiscent of the terror so many yet such short hours ago – she had pushed her friend right into a carpet of those same rats which had been frightening her at that time, for whose removal, she had agreed to withdraw Tanro. She now gave a bitter mental laugh at how disordered her line of thinking had been. Why had she ever expected them to stay away from her if she did as they asked? She had not dealt with this like an onmyouji, but like a girl who was concerned with protecting her friend. The former should have led to that concern as well but her disgrace was not having fought with all her strength and instead endeavored for negotiations of all things. Negotiations. With youkai. If Kana had not returned the pouch, it would have led to her end as a gullible little girl instead of a youkai hunter. Maybe she had just lost trust in herself when she had seen the brunette surrounded behind her which led to that surrender.

Behind the slowly advancing Kyuso who most likely wanted her to see it, the rodent rats were not just scurrying through the brunette's downed body but actually aiming their teeth and claws at her flesh. Rolling and turning, tossing and swinging, the again threatened girl was trying not to give any one of them the chance. Surprisingly, no screams could be heard from her, only grunts and gasps as she fought to keep them away.

"Your little games are getting old, onmyouji girl."

His drawl of a voice brought Yura back to his hairy face. It was turning into a hostage situation again. The roars and howls on her left kept reminding her that time was running out – the ochimunsha could not hold all of them off for very long. And, smart clanks on the floor told her that he was advancing towards her with that murderous relish that only emphasized the importance of getting away from him, or killing him if the chance presented itself.

She shook her head furiously. Continuing with this line of thought would make her get sucked up by his Fear…although for a peculiar reason, the maniacal smile on his human disguise looked more frightening than that of a youkai rat's, possibly because monsters were supposed to look this way. She already knew what his next order would be for her to 'save' the struggling brunette again. "_Put away those dangerous scraps of paper"_ no doubt. Both of these thoughts combined still made him frightening to the point that she actually started to retreat backwards, unable to withdraw her gaze from his hungry eyes.

"YURA-CHAN! JUST GET US BOTH OUT OF HERE!"

As soon as she heard those words, her face jerked to the right, tearing the eye contact like paper. And while she had only done this much, a loud smack to her front was heard, followed soon by raspy chitters and a louder groan.

She blinked. Then she slowly looked at her front again, trying to ignore the sudden increase in the volume of Kana's protests. Kyuso's face, his now growling, slightly open-mouthed face, was swerved downwards and a little to the left, a big dent in his cheek which was the point of impact…impacted by the smaller rodent— which in turn was now flat on his back and had a swelling on its side, looking unconscious.

With his teeth slamming against each other again, the rat leader's head snapped backwards.

"Why you…" he began and turned to the direction of the girl Yura knew to be the culprit, although she had not seen much of her to suggest this, back when the brunette had shouted.

This was probably her only chance. Although he might have been wary of her from the start of their breakout, nothing would have caught him off guard as much as Kana's stunt. Concentrating on her left hand, she quietly summoned a koi fish shikigami, which flopped in her hand before covering most of her lower arm in a water explosion the shape of a beehive, and emerging as much larger with his wide open mouth, where her fingers should have been.

"Yomi Okuri! Yura MAX!" she yelled from the blond rat's behind, just as he had been about to make a snide remark at the brunette.

Kyuso was blasted off his back when a glowing, big bullet of water hit him, scooted far past Kana and crashed onto the bronze colored wall, tore through it involuntarily, nicely replacing the flower engraved there with a large crater of the outside. The force was such that it caused the rats crawling over the twelve year old to be pushed away from her considerably.

"Bukyoku, stay with me!" the onmyouji shouted as she ran towards her friend, who by now had suffered several bite marks on her thighs and was wincing along with her trembling.

"Yes, Yura-sama!"

Bukyoku had a booming voice, fitting of his stature. With one great swipe, he threw off the surrounding ayakashi who had become enraged at their master's hit, and matched his directions with his mistress. Yura looked deranged at the state of her friend.

Kana had her hand yanked once again. Even out of fear it was suddenly very difficult to run. She felt rather crippled even though these were just minor bites with only a minute amount of blood leaking from them. But, in amazement, she just realized that she had stopped shaking.

"Yura MAX! Yura MAX!"

Anyone in her situation would have stopped shaking by now. The sight of all charging youkai being bombed by water the moment they got near spitting distance of them and…the brunette hardly dared believe it…the big door to outside getting closer by the second, it was all reassuring to say the very least. Trying not to think about what would happen if an accident happened, for example, if Yura's arm was to slip or a youkai managed to jump them from behind, she continued running as fast as she had ever run in her life, all the while letting the groans of the defeated sink into her for security.

And she had a very strong intuition that her onmyouji friend and savior was not going to leave anything to chance this time.

Her eyes were wide, small tendrils of azure flames were licking at her silhouette as she continued blasting every rodent youkai near the hazel-eyed girl and herself. Something was bothering her at the back of her mind, threatening to surface and cloud her confidence again but she shook it off, tightly clutching the other ofuda she had.

With a great BANG, followed by a small sling, the luxurious door burst – both open and in two. With its planks flying vertically past the small staircase, the retreating group emerged. The females flung themselves onto the ground and Bukyoku jumped at their side immediately.

The door pieces made heavy clanks across the cement as they crashed onto the ground. Wincing at the noise, the two friends quickly got to their feet. Thundering of many left behind rats was even now growing deafeningly loud behind them.

"Ienaga-san," panted Yura as they ran towards the entrance, hand in hand, "Don't let go of me, whatever happens."

"Alright," squeaked the 12 year old, flinging her chocolate hair from her eyes while sprinting.

The samurai was just behind them. He had paused to swipe his naginata at the air, releasing a mild shockwave to stop the rats from getting out so quickly. If his mistress had not been blasting practically all in range of her, they might already have been overwhelmed as soon as they stumbled out.

* * *

Blond hair and the khaki furred face seemed to loom out of nowhere, right when they were about to open the entrance doors. The white suited youkai snarled ferociously at them, suddenly blocking their path with both clawed hands spread out to prevent them from going – or to make wider swipes at their flesh, whichever he favored. Meanwhile, his subordinates had now started spilling out through the door deprived exit and were beginning to strategically spread out to surround them. Bukyoku could not stop this since he stayed nearer to the onmyouji to help her and none were foolish enough to approach him straight on anymore.

"Let's see how your armored friend there deals with THIS!" Kyuso sneered in a hollow deathly voice, his grin looking maniacal, even for a monster.

His body trembled for a moment before his clothes started tearing. The fur on his limbs became bigger, fatter and greyer as it emerged from his coat and legs. The fangs on his face became more pronounced, curled, vicious and in a mere instant his height tripled. Crack and thwack sounds further defined the change as his claws became longer and sharper, a brown, wiry-skinned tail emerged from behind and the irises of his eyes flared red. The gain in height did not stop and all the while he continued roaring – or groaning, the two could not distinguish very well.

And it turned out, they had not stopped either.

The subordinates had not done anything but surround them, respecting their master's wishes and on their own wanting to see the spectacle of his true form ripping the humans apart. Having noticed that and Kyuso's temporary immobility, Yura had swerved both herself and Kana to the extreme right with Bukyoku jumping ahead of them. As she expected, about ten rats instantly tried to fall on them.

"ROKUSON!" the black haired onmyouji yelled at the exact moment, the closest one reached the apex of his jump.

Kana was too weak from shock to scream at what happened next, although she would have liked to. Her legs were forced into a sitting position when the rich brown fur of an enormous creature sprang from below them. The Keikain pulled her more securely on its back, having already seated herself easily.

The creature they were riding sprang into the air, pushing one of the rats aside with its mere mass. It rose higher into the indigo sky and they were greeted with a twinkle of lighted monument scenery when they looked down.

Putting her middle and index together the younger one of the two sighed and the samurai reverted back to an ofuda which came zooming towards her. Both girls looked at the south direction where they could see the probably gigantic form of the rat, miniaturized and snapping its teeth at them as if itching to get a bite out of them.

"Sorry for not letting you finish in time! I told you I'm not a big fan!" the short haired girl said with both hands cupped over her mouth. Rentei was gone too.

_Actually, sorry for not annihilating you,_ she thought viciously to herself.

Kana simply averted her eyes from the scene, feeling chills passing through her when she pictured herself down there. Right now she wanted to focus on her exhilaration which was making her stomach churn. But she also noticed that the creature…a Sika deer shikigami with 'Rokuson' in kanji present on both cheeks, was losing height. Staggering backwards to avoid its branching antlers, she turned backwards and asked

"Yura-chan, we're not flying, are we?"

Although the deer soon landing on the roof of a tall plaza was answer enough, the onmyouji obliged to explain anyway.

"Rokuson can spring really high in the sky. That's why I didn't summon him until we reached the gate and I was sure it could work."

The brunette nodded in awe at how this time the short haired girl had already been planning their escape since the moment she got her shikigami back. Her respect for her savior just kept on growing now.

"Quickly, Ienaga-san, tell me exactly which direction you live in," she announced in urgency.

As relief spread through her at the thought of her home, and the assurance of safety, she felt too giddy to even thank her properly.

"O-Okay."

* * *

"AAAARRRRGGGHHHH!"

The grey, monstrous rat's roar of frustration caused all of his subordinates to collectively shiver around him. They even backed away, sensing that he would probably go berserk any second.

"CURSE" he made a large swipe with his hand, taking out one of his comrades in uncontrollable fury, "THEM!" he flicked his claws to clean the blood drops off, "WHAT'RE YOU ALL STANDING HERE FOR? FIND THEM!"

Before a single one of them could reply or get past their cowering, wisps of purple mist began to seep in through the large manor gate. It was covering a very big part of the ground outside as well, showing up very suddenly.

A new voice spoke, making all of them turn fully towards it.

"You have other things to worry about."

* * *

**Replies to anons:**

**Guest**

**Thank you! I did not keep it up though, really sorry about the slow updates. 'Tis just that this chapter was difficult to finish. And no problem about the late reviewing, I still considered it early seeing as I updated so late :D**

**A random person**

**Thank you!**

**I know some people might have liked our favorite Nura to come but you can watch the anime for that. I always hated how Yura was almost always forced into a helpless position in season 1. :P Oh and once again I apologize. Thank you all!**

**Special thanks to Guest, a random person, Alaia Skyhawk, Fede194, Dennou Writer, Lord Nayrael, Rose Rain 7, Awesome D.T, Guest, Snowy1219, izzy walz 1999, mafia king, uchiha sakura 193, Tactical Fan, Betula, Capt Jack Harkness, Crossover To The Dark Side, Not-Gonna-Update, ShinigamiNoKitsune 129, Thanatos The Forsaken and Vongola Ventitreesimo. All the support really caught me off guard.**


	4. Stare

**Author's note: A HORRIFYINGLY LATE update for all of you readers! I know my apologies might mean nothing at this point but my environment has been rather unstable and I've been into politics more lately. And curse summers, as usual. You will notice that there is only one scene break in this chapter because it consists of a one huge scene. NOTE: Contrary to what I said, chapter 5 is a really sensitive device in this plot and I need my Beta for it. I can't publish it without her, I'm sorry. I am really, very grateful to all of you readers. :) And also, I planned to have this beta-ed but the savior is not at optimum working condition at the moment so please excuse this sorriness and I hope to do better till next time.**

* * *

The rats were starting to back away from the mist already. Some of them who were already at a distance watched as azure Hi no Tama started to visibly glow at different positions in the mist. And they also started retreating when the mist became closer to the gate.

The grey form of Kyuso did not move but his jaw opened, shut and opened again and his eyes began to pop when before they had been attempting to discern the sight. When he could finally speak again, he found he could only really say one word.

"IMPOSSI-!"

_BOOM_

No one had seen who was responsible. At that moment, in an explosion of grey, the gate was blown right off its hinges. With the billowing smoke disguising the two pieces of the gate well, with sonorous, raucous clanging, the rats were unable to see their impending doom and did not position themselves accordingly.

Further crashes and thuds ensued as half of the grandeur took its fated place on the earth, stopping, trapping and, in some unfortunate cases, crushing underlings beneath and between its bars. The same happened on the other side. While the leader flung himself backwards easily, his subordinates who had been in surrounding stances were all downed at once.

He was alone, at least for a few minutes while the rest of the lazy bums struggled to get back to their feet, and facing what he had only heard stories about. As the mist started to clear, he saw it: the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons. Not a herd or an organized force, it was a Parade comprised of youkai, big, small, disfigured etc, a chaotic crowd of a diverse variety of monsters. And in the middle stood a tall male with white, gravity-defying hair which was black from the bottom. His red eyes glowed eerily and the rest of his followers had that same gleam.

A monk with white tentacle-shaped hair and a skull bead necklace in particular, smirked at him, a fist raised. The rat leader needed no more clues: he was the one who had torn up the gate. There was a five second silence during which the horde of subordinates who managed to struggle off of their prisons arrived at their master's side, fangs bared.

Then the real chaos began.

* * *

Nodding as she understood where to go, the preteen Keikain arranged her features into the placid, business-like face as she said, "Well then, let's go. I have to reseal Tanrou and quickly in case they start looking for us. This won't be over until I kill Kyus – wait, what's going on back there?"

Suddenly catching the sound of several war cries, riotous and overwhelming, as though several hundred people were screaming all at once, she turned her head back to the direction they had just come from. Then she saw the glow of the Hi no Tama and a shadowy mass, indistinguishable creatures constituting it, all of them merely dissolved into their own silhouettes and each other's shadows except those who were very unnaturally shaped such as a 'creature' that looked like a huge wheel.

But the mass was now scattering, going to meet the rats the two girls had just escaped from. These creatures were throwing themselves at them and vice versa, resulting in more yells, screams and howls.

"I hear it too!" The no longer endangered brunette exclaimed in alarm, setting her gaze at the same direction. The onmyouji's eyes briefly slid in her direction but she said nothing. In truth, she had actually felt a great mass of foreign youki that had drawn her attention. Had it been these noises alone, she would have dismissed them, deemed them threatening noises in admittance of their prey escaping, told the older one to ignore them and simply concentrated on getting her home. In fact, she had even been on the verge of ignoring this, thinking they were just some allies…

"That building." she commanded Rokuson, gesturing at the top of another lower heighted shop which would help them squint at the scene, suddenly curious beyond rationality. As the shikigami sprang into the air and Kana squealed in astonishment, she resumed her speculation.

These did not look like allies at all. A real fight was ensuing between youkai at the entrance of that building but why would youkai attack their own kind? What purpose would it serve seeing as humans were their most enjoyable targets?

The deer landed neatly on the cement of the empty roof, both of them got off of it and went to the ledge.

Everywhere, claws against swords, fangs getting at blades, slashes versus gnashes, bites for swipes, anywhere the onmyouji looked, she could only see the 'black' attacking 'black'. Blinking repeatedly in much astonishment, as her ears too supplied her with proof of the sight through clangs and slings, she put both hands behind her back and leaned her head forward. Upon doing so, she spotted…

_"I've brought some tea for all of you."_

Luscious, brown waves of hair were also involved in this mass slaughter. Said waves were rapidly curling around furry necks, tautening and either rising with the whole body and colliding with the ground, or, tightening until the very necks and all the above attachments popped in a gruesome bubble of blood. The cement outside was stained with more crimson in any case.

Meanwhile, something else, yet similar was attracting the brunette's attention. Hair colors that reminded her of ink being thrown into a clear cerulean water body and giving it both a new color and a new pattern, they were swaying here and there as a white streaked, freezing wind blew through them, crystallizing all that came near it and it seemed to be originating from an area very close to the hair. The white clad owner did her the favor of turning their head and she saw with shock, another familiar face she had never expected to see here.

She did not know that girl very well but she had cared to retain the features of her face in mind, all the while pondering over why she brought her classmate his lunch. The only difference was the eyes which were once electric indigo – the brunette was sure she had not made any kind of mistake since she had been drawn to the peculiar rings before the pupil, but they were now amber. And in the midst of all the fairness surrounding her, the dark color of her hair and eyes, the only ones alienated stood out very clearly. It was tough to decide what was more shocking, the fact that she was in her school or the fact that a deadly mist was coming out as her breath.

"That's a Yuki Onna." the black haired onmyouji's toneless voice made her blink, "There're a lot of youkai here, what's making you stare at her for so long?" she asked, somehow maintaining the placid look from hours ago.

"Wha-uh! It's nothing, I mean, she's making quite a spot for herself, wouldn't you say, Yura-chan?" the soon-to-be thirteen year old spluttered awkwardly. To attempt to brush it off, she also gave a light laugh.

What had made her friend suddenly monitor her reactions? As she turned around to face something else so she could think about it for a minute and also because it was not very enjoyable to see monsters in such a savage, crimson clash, Rokuson's large form greeted her sight and some reassurance warmly seeped back into her.

There was no question the Keikain girl found this just as queer as she did, if not more so. But still, why turn to her? It was a simple question and also a valid one: she had been told stories like other little children about ayakashi but she should have been more absorbed in the scene itself rather than see the look on her face.

"I didn't mean to keep you away from seeing it," the placid tone muttered and she wheeled around to see her looking at the battle once more, "It's just that as an onmyouji, I can't stop myself from being confused at all this. But I thought that you shouldn't be uncomfortable at my expense so…" she then trailed off, leaving the rest understood.

Kana let out a soft 'oh' of comprehension and then nearly smacked her own head except that her ordeal prevented her from being that cheerful or carefree at the moment. But it was clear to her from the girl's confession, and if she wondered about it now, certain other words exchanged tonight would cloud the small hope of her life returning to normal when she went back home. However, pouring some resolution in herself, she inquired, while avoiding looking below,

"Do you think they're gonna come after us?"

The young Keikain did not reply immediately, simply giving her a 'hmm' while squinting more. Over the loud noise, she had not caught it all too loudly but it was his familiar vengeful cry, still prominent given that she was investigating, not simply seeing and also because the noise had decreased. Interestingly in Yura's opinion, the grey giant had soon and somehow disappeared from the chaos, not that much of his antics could be spotted due to how the monsters jumped and sprang, trying to land full body blows. But now she could see him, and he was on the leftward side of the courtyard and the current battleground was starting to get less crowded. The rats looked lesser in number as their unknown foes started to occupy a larger proportion of the arena.

Quickly jogging to the other side of the rooftop where she could see it from better angles, she said,

"What's left of them might consider it,"

There was too much blood there. The older student was glad she could not smell it and walked over to her savior's side. Surrounding his huge form, not many youkai were there, only three of them. One of them, noticed by his blue, black striped haori, had just gotten swatted away like a fly and collided roughly on the ground, two or three meters away. Another blond one wearing an indigo scarf and a turquoise robe had landed in front of the offender, the red string around his hands presumably his weapon.

"GAAAKKH!" he screamed, his rumble sending chills down the human girl's spine and more of the racket quieted after it, "I'll take care of you once I kill your leader!"

Upon hearing that, the girls turned their attention to the person who still stood straight in front of him, albeit not as close as the ones who had challenged him, holding a large red sake cup. The one with black hair let out an audible gasp at seeing him, losing her recovered placidity and her eyes widened. Kana had a sneaking suspicion that it was not just because his hair was long, gravity defying, gourd shaped or colored with white and black because, like the Yuki Onna, she herself felt very drawn to stare at his back.

He lifted the sake cup but they could not see what he did to it. The result was that the liquid in the cup rose, divided into watery tentacles, became enveloped by cyan fire (or transformed into it, she could not tell) and went on to ravage on the grey mass of fur, spiraling mystifyingly in a blue radiant glow as it did it. In fact, it was so mystifying that it was easy to lose sight of how damaging and painful it must be, making a bonfire out of the rat named Kyuso because it had already begun to burn the ground surrounding his perimeter. Dense steam was beginning to rise from both it and him at a very fast pace.

"AAAKKHH…the NURA CLAN IS TIED BY ITS OBSOLETE RULES AND TRADITIONS! YOUR CLAN HAS NO FUTURE! I WANT IT GONE! I WANT FREEDOM!"

His dying howl was so deafening that the brunette closed her eyes and put both hands over her ears, cringing in discomfort. Her comrade did not bother for it and gazed even harder, disturbed by the smokescreen coming to hinder her efforts.

"Is that really him?" she said to no one in particular, deep in thought, "Is that really the Leader of the Night Parade?"

To the brunette's surprise, the girl actually groaned in frustration since bigger clouds of steam began to spread alarmingly all around the courtyard, making everyone there simply appear as shadowy silhouettes even more ambiguous than they had been when the feud had started. And being youkai, their appearance was already distorted so no one could really be identified. As there had been only three at the left side, they got sheltered by the cloud too easily.

Finally turning to look behind her, the onmyouji stared wonderingly at the night, her index and thumb going up to stroke her chin. Rather bewildered at how she was acting like she had missed a football match, her fellow student began squinting at her instead.

"Why do you want to see them so badly, Yura-chan?" She blinked at her confusedly.

"I told you I came to this town to defeat Nurarihyon, the Leader of—"

"And you mean that person is him?" the brunette immediately shot, suddenly shocked.

"According to Kyuso anyway. I need to know why these two were fighting," she resumed, not taken aback by her bemused feedback, "If I've identified my quarry, I have to collect as much information as I can about him."

She had to remember that as an onmyouji, her way of thinking was highly meticulous when it came to youkai. The hazel eyed one hoped her question had not been too stupid.

"Y-Yura-chan –"

"Shhh! They're saying something!"

Now it was her turn to get cut off. The short haired girl quickly began squinting there again, the mist that had formed all over the area no longer being the main location of this youkai horde. Most of it was in the courtyard but the gourd haired ayakashi was now walking composedly out of the part where the gate was supposed to be erected, and they, following behind him. One other person whom they could not remember from just his outline came closer to him.

"Waka, if I say so myself," a respectful, clear voice addressed, "His subordinates were easier to deal with than I'd expect."

Yura was barely even daring to breathe, frightened of missing even a single syllable. In response, Kana too remained quiet.

"Hmph," the heir acknowledged as young said in a deep baritone, "Did you already forget what he was saying when we got here?"

"Yes, but there were far too many of them and if you imply what I think you're implying…" he protested hesitantly.

"Seems the cats gave them a run for their money," the leader remarked with a small laugh, clarifying it to the youkai beside him. As the mist got even thinner, they were able to spot the string trailing from his hands and as well as his scarf. Maybe the shadow made it clearer than before but they also realized (one of them covering her mouth in disbelief) that he had no neck. His head bobbed without any support to his body.

"It appears we underestimated the on—" he began to comment but upon seeing his superior motion downwards with two fingers, fell silent immediately.

The white haired ayakashi, seen to be wearing a yukata and a haori hung loosely over his shoulders, carrying an old style lantern which had orange fire lighting it, then lifted his neck sideways.

Her canvas shoe feet actually stumbled as something hit her eyes so suddenly that she became momentarily disoriented. Red, a deep yet flashing color had just met her sight, the sight which had become used to looking through the dark night at the darkened horde before and now at the dark shadows. Her school friend's reaction was no serener than hers, although differing. She exhaled shortly and stepped back, her shoulders starting to quiver. Yet neither one of them could stop looking back with a mixture of surprise, awe and something exclusive to their own perceptions. Not one of them might have been an onmyouji the way they ogled at him, like seeing a ghost.

The youkai leader's eyes were gazing right at them, unruffled, as though he had had no problem in spotting their location. His mouth was curved upwards in a small smile, unless their own eyeballs were faulty. Then he turned away and continued walking ahead.

The female in a uniform recovered first. Blinking rapidly, she backed farther away with newfound urgency and whispered, "Quick, Ienaga-san. We can't take any chances. We have to get away before they come after us."

"W-What?" further puzzled, the brunette stepped towards her gingerly as though new to walking with her own two feet. Then she noticed her fist had gone up to her chin in nervousness and she lowered it.

"He may target us too. There's no telling what might happen," she answered impatiently, backing away to give her room to mount the sika deer.

"Do you really think he'll do that?" she asked uncertainly.

The uncertainty in her voice made the onmyouji gape at her.

"Youkai are evil! How can you even ask that?" she burst out, pushing her towards the deer.

"But he killed the other evil one. How do you know he is evil himself?" Kana hoisted herself upwards with a few grunts and Yura assisted her by pushing more.

Once she had settled properly and safely away from the antlers, her black haired friend too began to get on behind her.

"So what if he killed him?" she retorted in a low voice, her eyebrows furrowing and she seemed unsatisfied for something, "That didn't help us when we needed it to! It's not like he saved us, Ienaga-san!"

The brunette nodded, not wanting to argue more. After all, she had remained conscious for longer this night, listened to more, suspected more, panicked more and thought more. There was time for debating only tomorrow according to her plan for the next twenty hours.

"No," she smiled in genuine gratitude, cocking her head at the girl behind herself, "That was all you, Yura-chan!"

They stared at each other, one face glad and the other, astonished. Then the eye contact was broken as one turned to the ground and the other turned to the front, the two humans settling a silent agreement to simply let their minds rejoice at their narrow escape, for tonight at least.

As the shikigami sprang into the navy colored sky, they were both grinning in relief.

* * *

**So, another chapter focused on the before and after of the kidnapping. I had hoped to progress beyond this point right now but... -_- And I know what I bad job I did here, this time I really did. I hope to make up for it next time.**

**Replies to anons**

**Guest: If I answered why it took me so long, it is likely to be considered excuses. Thank you so much for bearing with me up till now! :D**

**Died in Vain: Oh goodness, you make me sound much better than I have any hope of being! That was an amazing and funny review that had me staring and pinching myself (mentally). And I know what makes you excited, I'm excited (and nervous) to write about that too! And hopefully you'll get those scenes next week. Thank you so much, really you are too kind.**

**Special thanks to, Awesome D.T, uchiha-sakura193, izzywalz1999, mafia king, Rose Rain 7, TacticalFan, Androgynous-Heron, Kar Blackheart, SmileRen, xLollipopLovex, hawkeyeriku, Rose Blood Cat, snowy1219, Thanatos The Forsaken, Vongola Ventitreesimo, ShinigamiNoKitsune129, Arina Lakhanda, Betula, Capt. Jack Harkness, CrossoverxToxThexDarkxSide, Dragon God xxx, LadyNightRain, Lord Nayrael, Not-Gonna-Update, OkitaRetatski for faving and following. And to the Legendary Dennou for the support. I can't thank you enough.**


	5. Assessment

**Author Notes: Warning people, this chapter is SUPREMELY OOC! I mean really, I don't know how, even I wasn't expecting myself to ruin it this badly! As in, this may not even be the same character at all! I couldn't think of another idea though...I'll...um, just sorry, I'm really sorry. This is bad.**

**Disclaimer: Only meant to change the plot line, not ruin it, sensei :'(**

_Why do I feel like I know him...?_

* * *

To her very pleasant surprise, she had enjoyed a nice, dreamless night of sleep. It was her luck that her parents were currently out of town so she did not have too much explaining to do to anyone. But it had been quite a shock when she got home and took a look at her reflection in her full body mirror to see dusty patches on her face and cuts on her thighs and arms. Astounding how she had completely forgotten about them, even with all the excitement of that night to justify it.

Her own desire had been to just collapse on her bed but the onmyouji who had very graciously accompanied her home and offered to stay the night, insisted otherwise. So, sleepily she had patched herself up, asking the short haired girl for help when she needed it and soon, without bothering to see what a sight she looked after the job, fell asleep.

And right now she did not intend to change her bandages but while looking at herself once again in the mirror, in her school uniform, she could not help but have second thoughts about going. However, she must go. There was too much, too many things in her mind that she needed to think about in full force and she could not suppress them for much longer. Resignedly, she cursed her luck when she had been blessing it last night that the uniform had no alterations to the cobalt blue skirt for the winter.

"Seriously," she sighed, awkwardly looking at the random bandages throughout what could be seen of her legs, "I wish I had tights to wear. It's not even that hot yet."

It was a bright, clear and favorably moderate morning, neither cloudy nor too sunny. Feeling the freshness of a new day she thought she might never live felt so inspiring, filling her with optimism as she walked to school with Yura. Though she had done this hundreds of times before, going to meet her fellow students and study felt like a new experience, the fact that she had lived today to carry out her normal, happy routine once more had never been of much significance to her. She wondered how other children could overlook such details so easily and curse their alarm clocks, books and teachers ungratefully.

Yura on the other hand had had that detective face ever since last night. Kana was sure she had stayed up later than her for at least an hour. Letting her smile wear off a little, the brunette stopped walking.

As a reflexive (and maybe protective) reaction, the onmyouji glanced at her.

_Good_.

It was better than saying her name three times to make her listen.

"We'll talk, when recess begins. I want you to tell me what you've been thinking, Yura-chan. And I'll tell you something about what I heard them say while they were taking us there," she declared in a serious tone.

"Uh?" Darker brown eyes widened slightly at that but the taller one simply nodded, "Alright."

With that set for the time being, the twelve year old looked irritably at her left hand's palm while fingering her cheek, both of which were bandaged.

"Can't I take at least these off?" she moaned but saw exactly what she expected – the other girl shaking her head sternly.

* * *

They had not greeted many people besides Natsumi Torii and Saori Maki and fled before the two could ask many questions. As a matter of fact, during the time she was free, Kana even took her chance to sit in a junior class, simply to avoid the stares she was getting, and dragged Yura with her so they could avoid any ideas Kiyotsugu Kiyojuji may have about another meeting.

Her mind was not very focused on the class at all. She was actually using this chance to let out her feelings on paper, a unique remedy not popular in practice for those who did not write journals. But if it escaped her in a rush of thoughts, feelings and memories all at once, she would crack up and she knew it. It was too much for her to handle, the realization, the (potential) trauma of it all, the incredulity and all of those sensations without a change in her expression. Not in front of class with an attentive teacher, she could not. She had to look at one fact at a time, do her best to not picture it and recall, not interpret, but simply pen down her observation. It had taken a lot to stop herself from looking at the one who was occupying a space in her mind so big that she was angry. The Keikain was sitting at the back like her but at the extreme right.

As the bell rang, she took a look at what she had written so far.

_'That rat youkai said "Nura". He kept on saying that, even when he was dying._

_Rikuo-kun came and asked him to let us go._

_The rat said he was the heir of the "Nura Clan"._

_So Rikuo-kun has some connection to this. His last name is Nura so how could he not?'_

Then the other man with dual hair colors had popped into her head.

_'The youkai called him the leader._

_He said that he wanted the "Nura Clan" gone._

_And before that, he had called Rikuo-kun the heir.'_

She had briefly looked up at the blond teacher while contemplating on that point, what it could mean. Though she was not studying, she had never used her mind this much before. And she had been accusing Yura of the detective look in her mind…

_"Wow, I can't believe how much Nura-kun's grandfather looks like a real youkai!"_

The exclamation of Jirou Shima had popped into her attentive head as soon as she had seen the sensei's blond hair. How convenient it was for her today. So she wrote something again.

_"Yura-chan said something about defeating the leader. I asked her last night and she said he was called Nurarihyon. The only family Rikuo-kun's got who could be related is Nura-san.'_

"Come on, Ienaga-san," the onmyouji called, walking over to her while slinging her white satchel over her shoulder, "Let's go, it's break time."

"Where exactly do you think we'll be alone to talk?" the brunette questioned a little testily, irked at her muse being interrupted.

"The Kiyoujuji Paranormal Patrol might not find us in here," she agreed and proceeded to take a seat beside her.

"Just give me a moment," the hazel eyed girl murmured and gripped her pencil firmly.

_'But, when I looked at him, I felt nostalgic. I couldn't figure out why…I still haven't. But this is what I think.'_

She took another breath and then bent over fully to her notebook.

_'Rikuo-kun is the heir to some youkai clan which's the last name he has. He tried to make them let us go but he was kicked out. Then this "leader" appears and his hair is kind of like Rikuo-kun's. It's just longer and white at the top but he was a youkai. Rikuo-kun is human._

_Maybe this is what he wants me to assume._

_Nura Rikuo_

_Nura…ri_

_That girl who brought him his lunch was there._

_That lady who brought us our tea was there._

_It's definitely a possibility.'_

The sounds of hurried tapping as she filled her hand with sweat was making Yura very curious. Even so, she heeded her request and remained seated.

"Okay, Yura-chan. Let's just get to it," she sighed, folding up her writing and turning her chair to face her. Addressee did the same.

"That Yuki Onna I was staring at, I was staring at her because I've seen her here."

"I knew it. I saw her here today," the girl admitted in realization.

"Same with the hair lady?"

"She's the youkai Kejourou, who invokes Fear using her hair."

The brunette received further confirmation as she remembered the abundant weight and number of her wavy locks.

"Tell me, what do you think of Rikuo-kun?" she asked, making her question sound abrupt and random.

The placid look on Yura's face did not fade.

"I was sensing a lot of youkai in his house. I don't really know him," she thought out loud, sparing the teal green board a glance, "I thought I didn't see any but I definitely saw Kejourou. She could easily pass for a human but there was something about her –"

"Here," the Ienaga student intervened, handing her the folded piece of paper, "I don't…I think you'll understand this better than if I talk."

She began to busy herself in packing her pink pencil case. All the while, she had gritted her teeth to resist some anger she could not identify very well. His bespectacled face kept flashing continuously in her mind, so much so that she was amazed it was not hindering her eyesight right now. Then, pretending she could not see her friend or her eyes widening with each line she swallowed, she opened the white fusuma and took a brief look outside. Contented that no one had wanted to linger in corridors in nice weather, she closed it again.

By now, Yura was staring blankly at the ceiling, the note clutched in her right hand.

"It…it all makes sense…" she whispered to herself. Then she dreamily turned to the brunette.

"Ienaga-san, so, were you awake the whole time? Ever since we were captured?"

The bandaged girl grinned a little.

"I played possum in case there was something I could do to help. Now that you know this…" she once again took her seat in front of her, "…I want to tell you that I'm so sorry for making a big deal out of all those rats surrounding me. I mean, there even bigger rats in front of you! Hold on…" she put up a hand as the girl made to object, "…as an onmyouji, you had a duty to exterminate youkai. You gave that up for me, just so I would be safe…" her face cringed uncomfortably at the memory, at how terrified she had been and the worse nightmare this temperament had thrown them both in.

"This wasn't your fault!"

"Of course you'd say that," she waved off, closing her eyes, "Anyway, what happened to us tonight proves it. I did my best to notice as much as I could, if I could lower my own uselessness by even one small percent…"

"Ienaga-san."

"Yura-chan, I've known Rikuo-kun since we were little kids. I know he's not evil no matter what form he takes. I somehow know he's not the one you should defeat and even if you do, you shouldn't destroy him," she opened her eyes and looked straight at the onmyouji from Kyoutou.

"For someone who's known him since that long, you sure had no trouble accepting him for a bonefied youkai," she observed dryly.

"I had – I had a lot of trouble actually…" her gaze shifted to the floor and her eyes began to tremble, making Yura regret simply pointing that out, "But you've already compromised for me once. You do what you came here to do, just please don't kill him because he's human too after all."

"Hmm, I guess you're right there," she gave in, "His mom was definitely one. But Nurarihyon is definitely his grandfather too."

The brunette did not answer, bracing her lower arms against her knees as she went on staring.

"I was always taught that onmyouji were white and youkai were black. To tell you the truth, it felt a little odd to accept it at first but I've been staying true to it like my family wants," she confessed, moving her head to look out at the window, "Don't worry. Now that I know the truth, I'll stay and try to figure out his motives before doing anything."

"Huh?" this revelation made the bandaged one look upwards promptly, "Even if it means going back home and becoming the head?"

"I'm still young to actually want that kind of pressure," the Keikain shrugged with a light snort, "Plus, I'm here for training too. I don't think I'm strong enough to stand up to his Fear yet, seeing as he's Nurarihyon's grandson. I'll wait."

Kana did not say anything much following that. She looked down at the ground, her palms joined together and her fingers becoming intertwined. For a moment, her hands trembled and almost as though to cover it, she perked up and proclaimed,

"Yura-chan, I think I'll go home. I can take notes from the others."

The black-haired one squinted a little at her in surprise.

"What's the matter?"

"I-It's not much –" she bit her lip, wishing to close her eyes and let her brain show her the images she would need to keep away to act normal, "I…just need a little time…need to figure everything out…I'm sorry, wanting to leave like this when I just promised I'd be there for you at school…but please –"

The onmyouji shook her head with a dutiful air.

"Ienaga-san, I'll go to your place with you. I'm still not sure how safe this town is and with your family gone, it might be too risky," seeing that the brunette opened her mouth to object, she said in a louder tone, "It's fine, today's a half day anyway. Plus, the Paranormal Patrol might be looking for us and even I don't want to go through their questions just yet."  
She smiled reassuringly at the taller girl and nodded.

* * *

They did not need or take very long to go to the gate. The young brunette was trying not to show anyone her face since she was getting more distressed creases on it by the minute. Students were now just filing in classes, contrary to them who were going out of the building. They narrowly avoided the students of their own class as they made it to the footpath outside. Without a word to each other, they walked all the way to the gate, not noticing two pairs of eyes on them as they did so.

"Let me take that for you, Master," one of the owners offered, extending snow-white hands to take her companion's lunch box.

After seeing them leave, the bespectacled brunet briefly cast a glance at the indigo-eyed girl by his side and handed over the box in his hand, the frost and navy haired student quickly turning around to head back inside. She glimpsed back a little and saw her master still staring there with his back to her.

* * *

_"I don't really get it…why not just become someone you can be proud of?"_

_The small boy's chocolate-brown eyes looked bemusedly at her, the downhearted look still prevalent on his face._

_"Maybe you can be the one who'll show them the way!"_

_The brown orbs widened until they were fully open._

_"Show them the way?" he repeated._

The scene changed.

_Now they were in the classroom they had been out of moments ago. A younger Kiyotsugu Kiyojuji was finishing giving his presentation regarding youkai. She heard the boy from before stand up and start criticizing it. One line in particular, struck her hard._

_"I know, because my grandpa is the Supreme Commander of the youkai!"_

_"Then that means, your grandpa must be Nurarihyon," the Kiyojuji son analyzed, holding his chin with his index and thumb._

"How did I even forget that!" she gasped loudly, pulling the pillow in front of her into a crushing embrace as she fell backwards on her bed.

She was alone in her room, her head starting to burn with the thought process. She had gone over all memories related to the word 'youkai', not that she could use a search engine to filter them but they kept surfacing and quite easily after last night's incident. And this had not been her only hostile youkai related incident in all her life. Hoisting herself back up into sitting position again, she stared into the white of the pillow and her sheets, her eyes beginning to tremble as she realized what this meant.

There was nothing neither she nor he could do to deny it.

"But still…how could this be?" she mumbled, not wanting to let it sink in, for after over 12 hours ago, a whole host of new possibilities was bumping into her brain, "Rikuo-kun, you were the official 'good guy' of our school…you've always been with me…how on earth could you be _him_?"

However, last night was not the first time _he _had helped her either. Naturally, he did not say who he was.

Again, the 'snatch' was interfering with her proper judgment of the situation. She supposed that if she had found out about it in some other manner, not relating to so much chaos (even if she just eavesdropped on him or something), she would have had a more anticipated reaction. She would have felt awed, disbelieving, maybe even exhilarated, despite having the temptation to tread more carefully around him. Rikuo was a good person and he had done nothing wrong as long and far as she had known about him, being kind to her and most other students, hence his nickname. As scared as she had always been of youkai, she would have felt sure he would not hurt her.

No, even then when the other person had just glanced at her, she had felt nostalgic and somewhat comforted. But, and she did not know where this practical streak came from within her, she simply could not forget those words the rat leader had said, though directly, they could have been harmless.

_'You're friends with the Third Head, aren't you?"_

That sentence in itself…she was clear on one thing, Kyuso had been haunting her mind even after his death, the imminent danger that he could still suddenly pop out of somewhere and only Yura's presence helped her keep that worry in binds. That question made it very clear exactly why they had been kidnapped.

She had seen how brutally youkai fought, mercilessly ripping and sniping at each other, even taking pleasure in it, especially when they won. They hated losing but they lost anyways. Still, for her the point was their lethality. And there was one simple hunch that she considered very valid, regardless of her personal opinion of her best friend because she, alas, only knew the person she saw at school, no one else.

They came for them once. To get to him, they could easily come again.

And 'they' could be anyone. While she thought of all she could remember of Kyuso's lines towards Rikuo Nura, she did not think it was far-fetched that he might have other enemies out there somewhere. What really mattered was that he kept a secret of who he really was from his friends but somehow, not from his enemies. What was that supposed to achieve?

The conversation she had just recalled was from four years ago. And their school bus had been attacked four years ago. _He_ had shown up four years ago.

_Even if he is some kind of leader, is Rikuo-kun only realizing it now?_

Because, come to think of it, if his foes knew about how good friends they had been, she had been in danger for a long time now, but nothing happened then. And her onmyouji friend, whom Rikuo did not even know very well, had been in just as much trouble.

She could not judge him so cruelly though. She was his own age after all, soon-to-be-thirteen and knew that she could probably not have done much better was she in his shoes. And he had genuinely cared about their release, going so far as to get beaten up and even agreeing to give up his position (even if he had eventually decided against it and made the less gullible decision) to have it happen.

In spite of stressing herself over it, she could not draw a definite conclusion. Her childhood friend never meant for all this to happen but apparently he never meant for them to find out about his identity either. At the very least she would be careful not to wander around at dark! And he could not very well stop the troubles that came with it either; again, he was still a boy, a young human like her.

"If he thought I'd turn on him if he told me, he should have really thought twice. I-It would've scared me…" a twisted smile crept up on her face, her eyebrows furrowing in hurt, "But now I'm terrified…tell me, Rikuo-kun, is this how dangerous it is to be friends with you?"

_You couldn't trust me to support you, even after all this time…but you could trust me to keep out of your 'personal' business just like that? You kept me in the dark…_

She let out a cracked, trembling sigh, looking at the flaming sunset at the window, the brilliant, gold rays of the sun making her blink.

_…but that wasn't the same as keeping me safe…it was no solution!_

* * *

**Author Notes**

**I believe simply making her keep her eyes open in the anime's first episode would have made a lot less hassle, had I chosen to write from that POV :D ****Once again, Kana is nothing like, well, Kana. I intended to make her different but I still hoped she would be the same at base. *facepalm x 10***

**No point in adding this A/N later, you people come for the chapter but anyway**

**Special thanks to, Awesome D.T, uchiha-sakura193, izzywalz1999, mafia king, Rose Rain 7, TacticalFan, Androgynous-Heron, Kar Blackheart, SmileRen, xLollipopLovex, hawkeyeriku, ELIZABETH of Darkness, orange and black panda, Zepharia, Ankou 13, Rose Blood Cat, snowy1219, Thanatos The Forsaken, Vongola Ventitreesimo, ShinigamiNoKitsune129, Arina Lakhanda, Betula, Capt. Jack Harkness, CrossoverxToxThexDarkxSide, Dragon God xxx, LadyNightRain, Lord Nayrael, Not-Gonna-Update, OkitaRetatski for faving and following (sorry if I missed anyone). And to the Legendary Dennou for the support. Thank you for having stuck with me. :) Oh and yes, you too a random person, I'm sorry I forgot.**


	6. Egress

**Author's Note: And I thought the last chapter was bad...anyway, I know this is...'tis far from good. It seemed okay at the time but now...I know I've made a mess. There are some things I want to point out and I'm doing that at the end.**

* * *

"This isn't serious," Kana mumbled to herself. Treating this whole scenario like a dream, game or test was how she worked out most of what she knew now. She still could not understand where this calculative reasoning came from or how she was able to put up such a good façade in front of Yura, until break time anyway. Yes, her life had been in immense danger last night and she had been panicking like herbivores in a butcher's shop. If she ever hypothetically put herself in that situation before the like arose, she would conclude that she would be too scared to do anything, even for Yura's sake and she expected the same from her before. After all, how long had they known each other? Yet the onmyouji did not mind that fact at all and stayed true to her duty. Maybe she, Kana, had wanted to be brave like her and perhaps she had used that to distract her from her panic, apart from deeply, strongly wanting them both to stay alive.

But there were no distractions now and she had still been hanging on to every detail which directly concerned her chances. Her mind had miraculously not let her throw tantrums of fright and she still wanted to believe that it was not real.

"No, this really is some kind of prank…" as tears began to leak from her eyes, she found that her mentality had reserved the tantrums of fear for later, once she had deduced as much as she could.

This had all come out of nowhere. Her childhood friend being a youkai: he had talked about it quite a lot when they were in elementary school but she remembered rejecting the idea, telling him that she was too scared. She wished she had not done that or she would have known sooner.

_I would have known…and then what?_

Would knowing this have stopped the bus accident? It had something to do with him, she was sure of this much since she remembered that long-haired person, addressing that hood-wearing monster with familiarity. The exact words were too foggy to clearly repeat in her head but they had to have had some association with each other, likely a link in this clan her friend was apparently from.

The brunet had been shamed into hiding the truth and she could recall an awful lot of ridicule he had to face. But she could not wrap her head or rewire it to rationalize the decisions he had made regarding his identity. He gullibly accepted a deal of their release from a youkai with no knowledge but even worse, no doubt of his intentions. He pretended that he was a totally normal person with no suspicion that they might be in danger because youkai knew who his classfellows were but his classmates did not know who youkai were. Even if they did how could they protect themselves? Yura Keikain coming to this town and walking at night was a mercy to her but what if it was Kiyotsugu or Shima next? What would they do? She had even better reasons to stay away from youkai now. So long as people such as that rat youkai knew about her association with Rikuo Nura, she was just not safe. Rikuo could probably not have had a handle on this situation, being it that he had also been kicked out of their estate and she greatly appreciated his concern – but him having no control was not her problem. Her problem was safeguarding her life. She had, as a small girl, not welcomed his trust in her, being phobic and childish and she was sorry for it, but she knew one thing – he was safe, she was not and he had enough comrades to regret losing one.

The picture of the girl who brought him his lunch flashed in her mind and she gritted her teeth, wiping her streaming eyes.

"There's a way to use a secret identity, Rikuo-kun, and that's not it! I can't believe this, I didn't even do anything and now I'm wondering about whether someone else will come after…why is this happening to me?"

She sobbed some more and then grabbed a tissue from the bedside table, starting to wipe her face next, on the verge of a new, severer headache. She felt like she barely knew what or who Rikuo was. It was nearly impossible to believe that in all the good, jolly times he spent together, he had been keeping this heavy a secret. He did not need to tell her then but could he not keep it completely? Could he not hide his relationship with her then too? She was rather sure, however emotional and sensitive she had always been, fangs ripping through her flesh would have hurt a lot more than her childhood friend starting to act ignorant of her presence. He was a good person but this revelation was too much – she did not think she could stay around him anymore even if she ignored all this danger, simply because of all the negativity in her head. Her parents would take some time getting back. She had received the phone call an hour ago and had been advised to journey to Sumida and stay with her aunt and uncle until then. Ordinarily, she may not have worried if Yura was willing to stay but for now she had to think about her own safety. Everyone else could take care of themselves and by everyone she meant the onmyouji and the youkai both.

* * *

"Is everything okay, Ienaga-san?" the black-haired onmyouji inquired from the couch once she stepped in the living room. Embarrassedly, she understood that it was asked because her eyes might still be bloodshot and she might seem distressed because she could not hide it any longer. But, in her defense, she had not expected her comrade to be waiting there.

"I'm fine," the brunette straightened her school uniform and then went inside her room again. While closing the door, she said, "I'll be out in a bit."

The girl had heeded the brunette's request for the time being but was not about to back down now that she knew where her targets lived. Her goal had been to defeat Nurarihyon and as far as she was concerned, he had not done anything to help them. And how much did she know about his grandson? All she suspected was that he had taken after him and was going to take over after him too. That brought her must-be-beaten opponents to a number of two. The only reason she had stopped was to accommodate her friend's mental struggle with a revelation. Once she had confirmed what Kana was going to do, she would make her own plans.

Soon, the twelve-year-old came out, dressed in blue jeans, a half-sleeved blue jacket and a black shirt underneath. She was also carrying a red traveling bag over her shoulder.

"My parents called a while ago," she explained, "They wanted me to go live with my aunt and uncle in Sumida City, and that's what I'm going to do."

"Why, won't they be coming here?" Yura asked, surprised at this development.

"They said something came up at work and they have to stay for a fortnight or so. Talk about inconvenient…" she soon began to busy herself hunting for goods she might need for the journey, her face looking rather forlorn.

"Hold on a minute." From the sofa, the Keikain heiress got up and went in front of her, "Maybe you should pick a better time, it's already evening. It's not safe right now."

"I just want to go as quickly as I can. But I wouldn't mind it if you came with me to the train station, Yura-chan."

So this was the state of mind she was currently in. She could not put up with all this uncertainty here, at least until she had time to settle herself.

"Alright, I'll come."

While they were talking they heard the phone ringing in the brunette's room. Both of them looked at it through the slightly open door, one with her usual placid gaze while one had an uncertain face.

"I'll get it," the onmyouji declared after two rings and went through the door quickly, "Kiyotsugu-san…" she muttered and then raised her voice, "Hello?"

"Yura-kun? Oh you're there too!" came the energetic voice of the youkai fanatic, "Hey, I was wondering, how come neither you nor Ienaga-kun came to the meeting today?"

"Well, that's…" she paused to see the mentioned girl mouthing 'parents!' to her and then gave a quick nod. "Ienaga-san's parents were going to be out of town so she's going to –" she was forced to pause again as the brunette whispered 'gone!', "–going to be living with her relatives. She thought she better head out early."

"Ah, really? Then what're you doing at her place?"

The Keikain heiress already had an answer prepared for that.

"She called me here to explain everything. I was just going to leave."

"And lock up in her place?"

As always, Kiyotsugu liked to look into everything when his club members acted disinterested. Kana sighed to herself when she gathered that he still was not relenting to her friend's explanations.

"All I have to do is shut the doors. The locks are already in place," however she could certainly applaud Yura's aptitude for providing explanations.

"Oh. Okay then do you know when she'll be back?"

"I told you what I knew. But it'll be soon, like she said."

"Alright, but make sure _you_ don't miss the next meeting! You'll regret it if you do!" his eccentric voice replaced his puzzled, curious tone in an inkling, surprising even her.

"Why, what's going to happen?" she asked, shrugging a shoulder in the other girl's direction who was looking impatient to leave, more so every minute she spent on the phone.

"We agreed that we'd all go to an expedition for youkai sighting on this weekend! It'll be on Umerakuen and we're leaving tomorrow!"

"Everyone?"

"Well, if I count you in and leave Ienaga-kun out, that makes, Maki-kun, Torii-kun, Shima-kun, Nura-kun and Oikawa-kun."

'Oikawa' was probably that girl who had been with Rikuo at school she had seen when narrowly avoiding the club until they left.

"Umerakuen, huh? And where will we meet?"

"At the train station. I've already booked rooms at an inn at our destination!"

"Alright, I think I'll come." Even if only to make him end the call, she thought it would be best to consent. As she put down the phone with a tapping sound, the brunette proceeded to exit, signaling to her to follow.

* * *

She was very surprised at this outcome, mostly because whatever was bothering her, she expected her to at least talk to someone at school about where she was going. Yura supposed she would have to give her explanations at the next meeting of the Kiyojuji Paranormal Patrol to Kiyotsugu and the others. The reason was valid enough but if she had been the same as she was before, what she would have done would be to stay at home and invite her more often to spend the night. No normal girl would be this willing to go across the city, lose contact with acquaintances and school and make the decision in just a few hours.

One thing was for sure; her timing had been perfect if she had truly had enough of youkai.

"So, is everyone going?" the taller girl asked, keeping her eyes fixed on the footpath they were walking on. This time, both girls were rather wary even though some people were walking on the other side too.

"Excluding you, yes. Ienaga-san, are you sure you don't want to talk to Nura-kun then?" the black-haired one posed another question.

The brunette did not reply immediately, her face remarkably impassive as she stared around, swinging by a lamp post in their way. But, her grip on the white strap of her bag tightened noticeably.

"I've…I don't need explanations," she said slowly and then went on to add, "His explanations, that is. I know he's a good person and I know I don't want to be used by other people to make him do things."

The young Keikain did not intend or attempt to criticize her move. Being it, that she was a normal human, she thought it was a very sensible one. She was aware of the terror of youkai and she was doing what needed to be done, the only thing she could do for herself: staying alive. But, in her opinion, this was her closest childhood friend evidently, and she was still doing it far too easily. Or maybe her unusually expressionless face was trying to show that and she, Yura, was falling for it.

They were now in the station, silently having walked down the staircase, neither one of them using the curved metal railing. As they approached the counter, the brunette practically hurtling through the evening rush, hastier than ever, Yura was reminded of something.

"Do you have the money to do this?"

"Eh?" Kana exclaimed distractedly, taking her spot in line which, thankfully, was short, "Yeah, Mom left some emergency notes and I didn't use up my allowance."

Her train was due in exactly sixteen minutes. After swiping her card at the stile, she waved a cheery goodbye to Yura, who waved lightly back, both of them pleasantly smiling at each other and turned away.

The middle-schooler really hoped this was not going to turn out into the typical horror-movie trip where, while boarding the train, as she was now, she would see a monstrous face in the crowd which would suddenly disappear or that something would be waiting to get at her in the train and if not there, then while she exited Omurai station. She was becoming more and more of a nervous wreck but the thought of getting away from the turmoil she had been facing last night, even if her current, physical journey only served as a metaphor for that psychological objective, still kept her going. And of course, that lingering resentment of a certain something that had bothered her for a few days now, something which made her rather angry, was also a feeling she would rather avoid.

The intuitional peril was what made her feel frightened, the cause was what made her shocked, the memories were what made her dazed, the events were what had her nearly traumatized if someone had not been by her side and all those put together had left her stunned. All this time, ever since she had come home, even though the resultant headache had stopped, his bespectacled face kept popping into her head over and over… and then that other, more mature _version_ of it came, except that it did not come alone. It came accompanied by a long line of silhouettes belonging to tumultuous creatures.

But she did not have second thoughts. If there was something to be regretted, it was on his part, not hers. Her brown, doe eyes briefly closed while she sat there, still clutching her packed bag, asking why it had to be like this, why it had to be him of all people, why it could not have been someone who was not such a good friend to her.

Then she opened them in her paranoia to find no _extra_ people there, only normal, human passengers, teenagers, businessmen and women and the average adults talking with each other or checking their cellphones. Suppressing a relieved sigh, she started to survey the dark scene outside the window, directly behind her.

* * *

As promised, on the cloudy start of the weekend, she had shown up at the train station she had been to just the other night, dressed in a lime green shirt and carrying a small bag over her shoulder. She hoped Kana had made a safe journey since they had no cellphones to stay in touch with each other. In any case, she was about to make a different one, with new classmates, much like a fieldtrip except that there was a possibility that it could be dangerous.

They had all been there, boarding the train with her, Natsumi Torii, Saori Maki, Jirou Shima, Kiyojuji Kiyotsugu, Tsurara Oikawa and _him_, all of them dressed in their casual outgoing clothes. The questions had only been started once the boarding had been done.

"So, was everything okay with Ienaga-kun last night?" the wavy-haired leader asked while he and the blond started to arrange for a game of youkai poker that she had declined.

Saori and Natsumi had concernedly curious looks on their faces, Shima made it clear he was listening by glancing at her, Tsurara too gazed at her in bewilderment but Rikuo was staring at the view outside, his face turned away to give attention to the lush greenery they were passing. She wondered whether they even knew that Kana was gone. No one had asked about her absence until they were inside.

"Yeah, you mentioned something, Kiyotsugu-kun, what happened?" the green-haired girl suddenly piped up.

"Like I said, Ienaga-san's parents were going to be late getting home so they wanted her staying with someone for the moment. Also…" she might as well add this so that it would not look like she was hiding something, "…I think she needed a little time off because she felt under the weather."

"Hope she gets well and back soon," Saori sighed and the Patrol turned their attention to the cards that Shima was now about to hand out.

* * *

**Author Note**

**-So Kana's internal disorder has still not been dealt with completely and I don't think it will for a few chapters. It has a lot to do with her character in this story so I could not possibly wrap it up in one chapter. And I know I have made a bad choice in the way I portrayed it, I apologize.**

**-There is no telling what Yura might be up to. She's worried yet she acts placid too.**

**-Only one reviewer was wondering whether Rikuo had a fever here or not. Well, my (poor) explanation for that is that since Kana and Yura escaped and Yura did some real damage to Kyuso's forces, it did not take them nearly as long to wipe them out, so Rikuo did not overdo it at night and had only symptoms of a fever.**

**And I thank you all for still being able to read this.**

**Special thanks to Zepharia,Rose Rain 7, Awesome DT, Girl from stars, Tactical Fan, hawakeyeriku, izzywalz 1999, vampire princess 141, mafia kng, team x cution, uchiha sakura 193Alaia Skyhawk, Androgynous-Heron, Ankou13, Betula, Blackhole Magician, Capt. Jack Harkness, CrossoverxToxThexDarkxSide, DarkReaver724, Dragon God xxx, ELIZABETH-of-Darkness, hawkeyeriku, Kari-neechan, LadyNightRain, LavieTyme, Lord Nayrael, Mystearica 'Primal' Fende, Not-Gonna-Update, OkitaRetatski, Rose Blood Cat, ShinigamiNoKitsune129, SmileRen, snowy1219, Thanatos The Forsaken, Vongola Ventitreesimo, xLollipopLovex, Dennou Writer and a random person for so much support!**


	7. Frenzy

**Author Note: This is such a splattering of text...I am so sorry! :'(**

* * *

"It says Umewakamaru."

He could read the text when no one else could. Not that she needed anymore proof but this confirmed it. She should have asked her new friend when exactly this brunet started wearing glasses but at the thought she reminded herself that she was not interested in his personal life. He needed to be defeated so that she could make him, and his clan, stay away from humans.

This goal was recent. She had made defeating him her primary objective and that in itself was already giving her enough food for thought. It was best to consider the long run in the long run.

This girl, Tsurara Oikawa, went everywhere with him. She noticed that when rejecting Saori and Natsumi's offer to go to the hot springs at the comfortable inn (now that Kana Ienaga was no longer here to watch over, she could not allow these two youkai to keep being around humans out of her sight).

"Well, you don't know what you're missing," shrugged the green-haired girl and both she and the blond proceeded to the direction of the changing rooms. They were fine with staying alone at the inn, trusting the hostesses they had met to look after them.

Once they were gone, Kiyotsugu ushered the rest into his room and, with an anticipating grin on his face, said, "Now that the nuisance people are out of the way, we can go on with our nighttime youkai search tour!"

"Right now~~?" yelped Shima, a spooked expression plastering on his face.

"Idiot! How could you have forgotten our objective, Shima-kun?" the wavy-haired male bawled irritably at him.

"Our objective is to be caught by the youkai, right?" he put his index and thumb on his chin and grinned, "You heard what Adashibara-sensei said earlier, right? We mustn't go outside at night! We'll definitely get to meet him here!" His face changed to an awed one as he breathed, "The Master of youkai!"

The blond's face was clearly conveying that he hoped this would still somehow turn out to be a joke.

Yura watched closely as Rikuo's gaze shifted to a more worried one rather than frightened as he stepped forward, in the attempt to break the Patrol leader's enthusiasm.

"Wait…hold on! It's not a good idea to go out!" he warned with panicked urgency, "You guys are taking the youkai too lightly! There are some who will really kill people!"

"Rikuo…"

"Nura-kun…and just what do you know about youkai, hmm?" the youkai fanatic retorted, "There's no use in trying to stop us! We're not like you! We're far more active when it comes to youkai! Right, Yura-kun, an onmyouji like you?"

Before the black-haired one could respond to that, the brunet cut in.

"If you insist on coming, then I'm going with you! It's way too dangerous for just the two of you!" his hand formed a fist while raised.

"Why's that!" asked Kiyotsugu.

"Wait for me!" called the approaching indigo-eyed girl from behind them, "If that's the case, I'm going too!"

"Tsurara!" the brunet's head snapped over to the scarf-wearing girl, his mouth falling open.

"I can't let Waka go into danger by himself!" she said in an undertone to him while the other two began walking.

Having confirmed what she needed to, the onmyouji joined them.

Though she did not know entirely what Kana had been going through, she was certain that this protective attitude of her friend would invite some interest from her. But, being as suspicious as she was of him, she wondered if it was not just an excuse to go with them for some sort of ambush. This place was rumored to be teeming with youkai and for all she knew, they might be friends of his.

The sun was almost down by now, the purplish pink in the sky becoming darker and darker as they moved. It was a good thing they all had bags or pockets in which to keep a spare flashlight.

* * *

As she had expected, the tactic of splitting up was employed once they reached the fork in the road. Kiyotsugu took the right while Shima took the left. And again, as she expected, the two of them began muttering to each other about this, 'Waka' and the one who addressed him as such while she pretended to be going the same road as the soccer player. But, seeing the two youkai behind her actually worry made her feel uncertain – was it really all that safe for Saori and Natsumi to be at the inn?

She was far enough to only spot their forms which looked a lot smaller from this distance. Planning to catch up with Shima, she thought it might be best to talk them out of this after all. If anyone should have been out here, it should have been her alone, searching for youkai that may try to harm them. What made Kiyotsugu even respect the Master of all youkai anyway?

Still, her decision was not regrettable. She wanted to see how the grandson would behave and that she would after stopping the blond's progress. This fork in the road was bothersome: the humans to be protected had become too sparsely located.

Soon, after jogging a little, she caught sight of the soccer player disappearing in the distance. Raising a hand and about to call out to him, she had now one motive to subtract nuisance from people, with what the phrase now meant in her vocabulary…

_Good, now I need to get to Kiyotsugu-san, quick…why couldn't those stupid youkai have taken one path too, it's not like they care what happens!_

…when the blade of a katana whipped the wind as an only warning…

…_tch, it had to be now!_

…and slammed against the blade of a huge naginata, wielded by the powerful, tall black ochimunsha, Bukyoku.

The attacker and the shikigami both withdrew their blades and the onmyouji, standing at the ready with two to three ofuda in her hand stared shrewdly at him. He had raven black hair, cobalt blue eyes and wore the traditional clothes of a samurai, accompanied by a magenta scarf and was not quite so far off from her where stature was concerned. And with a simple frown he showed composed displeasure at how his attempt to wound had failed. His blade was indeed a katana and he had another one tucked under his obi.

"Well, well, you sure aren't as helpless as you look," he jeered, not looking intimidated in the least.

"Keep your praise to yourself, youkai," she scoffed back while mentally communicating with her summon. _Bukyoku, we don't have much time, just give him a good distraction._

Though, she might have fallen for his ploy already. How was it that Shima had been easily walking ahead without fear or worry?

This youkai merely rubbed his nose and then rushed forward with abruptness and force that made it clear he attempted to barrel through the shikigami. Their blades collided once again, silver against red this time and though Bukyoku towered over him, he was still having a hard time pushing him back. But so far, that did not bother Yura at all.

The raven haired one pushed through with a heave, briefly pushing the shikigami out of the way.

"Can't fight your own battles, onmyouji?" he sneered with a glance and then became preoccupied with fending off the ochimunsha once more, his back turning to Yura.

The collisions from their blades released forceful winds into the surroundings and the blunt sound of metal against metal was deafening. The red naginata was used in slow attacks, all of them easily dodged with a jump or a duck, if not blocked. The katana in turn was faster and always blocked or parried and never dodged. The attacker lunged forwards as the ochimunsha stepped backwards a little, and aimed a blow at the right side, his grip visibly tightening on the handle.

Bukyoku had his weapon in his left hand and due to its length, was unable to swing it quickly enough to parry the vertical slitter and ended up getting a deep gash from his shoulder to the thickest parts of his armor, the katana penetrating them easily. He froze on the spot, his grip on the weapon slacking, bringing it to the point of falling.

"Y-Yura-sama…"

The shikigami weakly twitched before in a flash of light, it dissipated into thin air.

The raven haired one slashed his sword in midair as though to flick off blood but there was none on it. Standing tall as the ofuda of the defeated flew behind him, he said, "How d'you like that? You're in for the same."

His face moved backwards to gaze at the summoner but all he was greeted with instead –

"Yomi Okuri! Yura MAX!"

"You stinking, cowardly –!"

–was a dazzlingly bright flash of blue, approaching nearer to him every fraction of a second.

The sword wielder was blasted off his back as a bomb of water energy hit it squarely. Yura did not stop, firing off three more raucous blasts at him repeatedly for good measure, although the first swept him off his feet already. By the time the koi fish was finished spouting, the youkai had scooted off to what looked like further beyond where Shima had disappeared, groaning in anger or pain all the way.

The onmyouji picked up Bukyoku's paper from the ground. Not pausing to celebrate her victory in the sudden silence that followed, she wished she had sent him in some other direction. They must somehow have the soccer player under their control because there was otherwise no chance that ayakashi would leave him unharmed. Not ones who were this contemptuous of humans and this good in combat alone…

She needed to hurry and find Kiyotsugu. There was no telling where the soccer player might have been dragged but the sight of him had been enough to lure her into a trap. It was a difficult decision: whether to assume that she had dealt with the trap and bring the blond back by going forward or check if the Patrol leader was in danger thanks to him being around two youkai when she left _or _go back to the inn to see if the girls were okay.

_I am a shikigami master. I'll just have to use that to my advantage._

With that thought, she reached inside her receipt pouch, retaining a good hold on the ofuda she already had in her palm and took out another one. It materialized into the large deer, Rokuson in front of her.

"Go and retrieve Shima-kun, wherever he is in there." She waved her hand in the forward direction and the Sika deer obediently turned on its heel and began cantering off. Eyes narrowing at what could come next, she hurriedly began to run back to where the fork in the road started.

"Shima-kun!" she heard another female voice calling and inwardly groaned while her feet carried her through the still trees right to the source.

Indeed, the long-haired, frost and navy haired student was there, looking around left and right as she walked, though it stopped when the onmyouji reappeared. Tsurara's white-skinned face was about to show signs of surprise but she seemed to want to do it with her voice instead.

"On– Keikain-san, you should probably go back to the inn, it's not –" she began in a serious voice but the Keikain heiress was far from interested. If she was here…

"Where's Nura-kun? Has he gone back too?" she interrupted sharply, keeping her hands clenched.

Apart from not appreciating her speech overlapped, she also frowned a little at the suspicious sounding inquiry.

"He's with Kiyotsugu-kun. I'll try and say this again, it isn't safe for y –" she was clearly having her patience tested. That was not totally against the onmyouji's wishes.

"But it is for you? How come?" Yura literally snorted, drawing nearer, "I mean, how is it any safer for you and Nura-kun here?"

"We just want everyone to get back to the inn safely! We're all in danger!" she argued, starting to get angry.

"Why are you looking for Shima-kun?"

"What's your deal with all these questions? If you don't want to go back, fine by me, I'll –"

"Yes, please just take your own advice and tell Nura-kun to do that too," Yura snapped, walking to the side so she could pass her, "In fact, there's no need, I'll go tell him myself. Something isn't right in this forest. I'll bring both Shima-kun and Kiyotsugu-kun back so you can rest easy, Oikawa-san."

"Why, what happened?" she asked concernedly, now coming in front of her.

"I was attacked by a youkai. And unless you want the same, go back," Yura took another turn and continued away placidly, "I needed to have a chat with Nura-kun in any case."

"A youkai? When? Where?" Tsurara chirped, once again intercepting her and this time doing it demandingly.

"Most people would just run." A black eyebrow was raised at her reaction.

It seemed that the indigo-eyed girl had no answer to that and simply stared at her with overwhelming curiosity.

"Oikawa-san, I don't know what's gotten into you…well actually I do. Why do you even bother taking human form if that's the best you can do with words?"

With this, she swung herself ahead around the youkai and continued walking, albeit enjoying the gasp she heard at her response.

"Hold it!"

And she stopped, flinging her neck at the back to face her again.

"All that youki I was sensing at Nura-kun's mansion, did you think I'd just forget about it?" she nearly shouted, though still maintaining a vapid demeanor, "Yuki-Onna?" she added, stressing the words.

Tsurara Oikawa's eyes were at their widest upon hearing that. Then they slowly narrowed.

"How long have you known then, onmyouji musume?" she murmured in a deadlier voice, her face a little bent so that her side bangs cast shadows all over it.

"Does it matter? I've cut you and Nura-kun a lot of slack considering you both know what I'm here in Ukiyoe for. You must have been there, listening to what I said. So go on, keep strolling, I bet these ayakashi here are buddies of yours."

She turned her back on the youkai not looking intimidated by her angry face.

"If you think I'll let you anywhere near Rikuo-sama now…"

Yura sighed and continued to ignore her for as long as she could, in terms of seconds.

_Well, I _was_ asking for it…_

* * *

**Author Notes: I did this in a rush and it will seem like rushed too. I'm really sorry, I know it feels like it is too fast paced but this may be the only update in some time because I have to go on an unpredictable hiatus. I'm sorry, I know this is a really big muddle. :'( Horrible.**

**Yura's strategy may seem poor but there's a reason. It also relates to why she is so nonchalant.**

**No Kana in this chapter but we will see more of her. For now, Miss Keikain is on a rampage.**

**I thank everyone for reviewing and thank you coolmon for favoriting and following and special thanks to all who have been supporting my story. And Firered, are you someone now using a different account because I don't recognize you...**


	8. Yukigassen

**Author notes: It was a long hiatus but I continued to receive more support throughout. I cannot thank you all enough for finding enough worth in this story! Although as usual, I am not satisfied with this chapter and had honestly expected to do better after so much time for planning – I am sorry, I really do not believe I managed to do this section satisfactorily and it is going to seem fast paced so again, I am really sorry for this drabble. ****Thank you Miss Okami Tsuki, waterflower20, Akuma Heika, BloodyFangKing 95, Suki Kana, Rose's Fox, Windninja 1000, Mgaraptor, Blackwolf 2111, Path Keeper, miezi 10, Aira Aura, Himuro Miharu 102398, and the old followers who have continued to support me. Thank you very much, all! I am sorry if I misspelled names.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the bad plot.**

It got much colder in roughly five seconds after she turned back to face her opponent. From the look on her face, Yura Keikain wondered how long the Yuki Onna had waited and longed to do this. Amber, ringed eyes narrowed and glowing, long blue-black tresses of hair and pearly white kimono swaying, snowflakes swirling all around her perimeter...it could all very easily terrify a human, freezing them with only one look.

"Last chance," she said in a lower voice. "Go back or I'm not responsible for what happens to you here."

"Likewise," the black-haired one cocked her head to the side and gave a sweet grin, the koi fish shikigami ready on her hand already. "Even if this was just a snowball fight I'd say that."

She aimed instinctively in front of her neck with her other hand holding a few other ofuda. A torrent of flames burst out in her defense from the freezing mist that the amber-eyed one had let out without her even seeing it – there was too much snow around her to clearly see what she was up to. As the fire roared in front of her, lighting up the whole clearing with a reddish glow, temporarily making the snow youkai step back, it did not cover everything and her leg partially became covered with some thin layers of ice.

_I can't let these slide. She could manipulate her own ice just by thinking about it, no matter where it is._

So she thrust her leg to the fading flames, watching the Yuki Onna as closely as she could as the ice on her leg melted off and the flames faded. If anything, the cold sensation returned instantly afterwards and multiplied. Brambles of snow were quickly spreading everywhere, even as the onmyouji watched, the trees became covered with them so quickly one would a furious blizzard of legendary intensity was passing through this forest.

_Wait, I shouldn't be thinking like this..._

But she noticed the damage too late. So fixated on the changing scenery, she had not noticed the shikigami on her arm becoming frosted too and now that she did, she could have been wearing an ice sculpted pot for a weapon. It was not the worst of it though, she had shown awe in front of the youkai and that had probably fed her power over her. The white maiden had only to lightly step on the ground for all the snow to become solid ice everywhere around her, even the ground, lose the friction it provided and for a blizzard of the same intensity as she had imagined beginning at that moment in the icy clearing. Her hair whipped all around her face, the frost bit into her flesh and made her tremble reluctantly as she struggled to keep her eyes open. Black mists were creeping up the amber-eyed one's silhouette and her arms were now folded, watching her contemptuously.

_How long is this going to go on?_ The onmyouji on the losing end asked herself in frustration as snow gathered over the ice rink that the ground was and all over her and she kept dusting it off however much she could at the same time as trying not to drop her gaze from her opponent. _I underestimated her. If she could do this much, she could've wiped out Kyuso and his rats all by herself! Why didn't she then?_

"Know your place, little human," the maiden said over the howling of the blizzard that was making her hair blow to the side mystifyingly, yet it did not distort the sound of her voice. "Just who do you think you're trying to challenge?"

_I suppose she was that guy's bodyguard for a reason, unlike that other one._ As a large spike of ice sprouted from the ground just as she backed away in time, she lost her balance thanks to the wind pushing her and fell on the quickly accumulating snow, her hand hopelessly grating against it. It seemed hopeless now. With just one slip, she had been beaten before she could even put up a fight at all. There was no point in impulsively unleashing a shikigami when it could just as easily get frozen like Rentei and there was no clarity left in her mind to think of a proper strategy. She did not usually use that much in the first place. Her willpower was all she had, what was keeping her hand moving on the ground, longing for a way to fight back.

"Who do I think?" she asked quietly though she knew the blizzard would not affect the opponent's hearing. "You're the one who just strolled into a school of little humans, youkai."

Tsurara gave a grunt at that sentence but was distracted from retorting when she saw a cyan aura emanating from the downed girl as she slowly, shakily got to her feet and proceeding to aim with her frozen fish.

Something was giving Rentei the ability to move, even if the shikigami was covered in ice and even if the mistress was being pushed by fierce winds passing through from everywhere. But it did not seem to matter because she was swaying so badly, unable to shield herself from the force that her arm was wavering a lot from the right direction. Even the ofuda she took out blew away from the clearing in an instant – it was exactly why Tsurara was not bothering to do anything else but enjoy throwing her confident words back at her in the weather she loved.

But then, a sudden rumble from the ground away from their arena diverted her attention. It was not negligible enough that she could avoid turning her head back in curiosity but, when she turned back after two seconds, a snowball hit her squarely, splat in the face, slowly sliding down her nose and then falling uneventfully to join the snow it came from.

"I'm over here, ayakashi," the girl said unsteadily, staggering even more now. "Don't turn away until you kill me!"

"Fine, if that's what you want," addressed person stopped folding her arms and inhaled, eyes narrowed angrily again. This time, several clouds of freezing mist escaped her, mixing in with the wind.

The onmyouji was ready this time. In the air, several ofuda arranged themselves like a wall, blocking the effect of the new deadly mist completely though the blizzard was still making her teeth chatter, she refused to respect or fear it anymore. If she had been ready before, she could have used the fire at a later stage. Once the opponent gritted her teeth in anger, she retracted her ofuda and charged straight on with the movement her almost-asleep legs could provide, into victory or into death, she was unsure which. She ran swerving as more ice formations erupted from the ground, nearly at the same time to stop her but the wind was still making her swerve, even if only by a small amount and one of them grated against her knee sharply and painfully, promptly making blood trickle out of the kneecap.

_Take it out on her, take it out on her..._

Still the onmyouji did not stop and aimed, not bothering to yell out the name of the technique. Her first shot was too high and it flew far over the youkai's head, even higher because of the wind force. Her second went very close to her shoulder and was revealed to be not an energized water bomb but one of pure ice that looked like the top of a large flail, small pointed spikes all over it. Surprising the ice youkai, it managed to scrape her waist as she saved her arm but did not react completely appropriately. To make matters worse for her, the rumbles were now louder and sounded too close to their battlefield.

"Heads up, Yuki Onna!"

Yura spun her arm and then hurled another snowball at the white clad maiden who could not resist the temptation to investigate the source of the noise. This one got her on the face again and she aimed another one on the same spot. Presumably due to her rage, the blizzard intensified even more and the onmyouji then focused on blasting the spikes of ice that were now forming spike beds for her to lie on all around. If she relied on dodging she was quite sure there would be nowhere to stand without a frost cone poking out of her canvas shoes.

Black mists escaping her as her rage was now at its peak, an ice naginata materialized in the youkai's white hands and she raised it to attack herself while the girl was busy finishing the thorns and shrapnel, not even focused on her rather badly bleeding knee while her own white hand was clutching her waist before.

On an earthquake-like rumble, the terrain, which was now frozen stiff, cracked visibly. As both of them stopped for a moment, Yura backing away and Tsurara looking at one side, they finally saw the source of the trembles the ground had been experiencing.

* * *

"Kana-chan, thanks for helping with dinner," a pleasant, mellow voice called outside her room, belonging to her aunt.

"Sure, no problem!" the brunette hollered cheerfully.

She felt a good deal better than before when it was nearly impossible to not constantly look in all four-directions one by one and wish she could see them simultaneously as she had come to this house. Now in a comfy four-poster bed, she entertained herself by reading a joke book, a plain bedside lamp lit on the table beside her. So far, nothing bad had happened and that by itself was a relief greater than the pain she had felt in these two days or any regret. Her wounds were recovering nicely too and when she considered the ones who caused them, it was a mercy that they contained no poison. For the current two weeks at least, she ought to remain here and then talk with her parents to find some way to let her stay here permanently.

"Oh, I should give Yura-chan my number..." Kana Ienaga said to herself suddenly, got up, stepping on the brown-carpeted floor and went over to the white-colored phone on the table near the white door. "And the other two..."

There was a school her aunt and uncle had enrolled her in here and she would be starting tomorrow, after a day of rest. Hopefully tomorrow would be good. And a couple of days later was her thirteenth birthday. For a reason unknown to her though, thoughts of that day made her feel threatened but she comfortingly reminded herself that she was no longer close to _him_ and should no longer be a target for any youkai. Friend or not, this ought to keep her safe more than anything.

Just as she thought this, the doorbell rang downstairs. Obliged to want to be helpful again, it was nevertheless easier to consider letting her aunt receive whoever it was but she pushed that thought out of her mind, got out of her room and headed to the front door.

* * *

The enormous, tens of feet tall, grey coated animal charged in with tumultuous footfalls, its trunk waving madly and the ice covered obstacles in its way breaking into hundreds of pieces as it went past, knocking the Yuki Onna back and going straight for the onmyouji who looked not the least bit surprised by its arrival. Its huge trunk rose and sucked in much of the wind blowing all around when Yura touched it.

"If you want to blow him away, I think you'll need to do it for the trees too," the partly frozen girl remarked, snowballs still clutched in her hand as her opponent picked herself up. "Your precious master wouldn't like you doing that, I guess." The elephant then released the wind it had just sucked up in one vacuum blast at the white youkai again, lifting her off her feet and slamming her onto the tree nearby with so much force that the ice on the tree cracked in several places and large fragments started falling down on her. Yura did not pay it mind, throwing up the two snowballs in her left hand and catching them again while frowning. The shikigami on her arm was recovering – the ice had already cracked in several places and her power had saved it from being frozen too deeply to be able to convalesce.

"I've got nothing more to say. Return, Kyomon."

The shikigami at her side reverted back to the small scrap of paper that had been blown away from her hands and started walking away, though keeping Rentei alert. Soon she passed the clearing without further event, however, and once she returned to warm greenery, she clutched her knee in pain and collapsed, the other shikigami reverting to an ofuda as well.

"Can't rest...I've got to get Kiyotsugu and the others out of here..." the weakened young girl admonished herself and staggered back to her feet again, unable to keep herself from limping any longer. "...Tsurara Oikawa, she really is a powerful enemy... Tanro!"

The huge wolf shikigami came to her side and she unsteadily mounted him. "We're going to Rokuson. I think he's found Shima-kun...hopefully..."

If this was how strong just the underlings were, she was sure her current strength was not enough to handle their boss. Just a look from him had started to make her feel afraid. But she was going to aim for it anytime soon anyway. Her time in Ukiyoe had been allocated to training and defeating, not recklessly challenging and losing.

* * *

"Ah..." the honey blonde leaned her back against her armchair and groaned. "It's criminal to be at this classy place and not go to the hot spring..."

"You said it," her cat-eyed friend disappointedly agreed, swinging her legs idly as she sipped some juice laid for them on the table. "It's a good thing we went outside though, or we wouldn't have found Kiyotsugu at the entrance."

"And just what was he doing there anyway?" the blonde demanded of the unconscious, wavy-haired youkai fanatic, his face comically stunned by whatever made him like this.

The door slid open and to their surprise, the black-haired Yura, with an unconscious Shima slumped over her shoulder, looking shaken and a little bruised. They got up at once, especially when they noticed that her knee was pouring with blood.

"Hey, what happened?" Saori asked, quickly going over to the two of them.

"Maki-san, Torii-san..." the younger girl laid Shima down and clutched her shoulder which had also been wounded badly.

"Y-Yura-chan, are you ok –?"

"That isn't important," the onmyouji panted in interruption. "Listen, all of us have to leave this mountain right now. It's filled with youkai...we _have_ to get out of here!"

The two girls could not argue back, not when they saw her in this beaten up state.

"Yeah but how're we going to leave? We'd only be in danger if we go outside then," Saori mumbled weakly, her eyes wide with fear.

"And what about Oikawa-san and Nura-kun?" Natsumi pointed out.

_I can only rely on the shikigami; it's better than staying here. There's those three Tengu to worry about too, they could be kidding when they said they called a truce...what a mess..._

"Come with me, outside. There's five of us, there will only _be _five of us and I can still make do. I'll explain later," she wheezed, gradually gaining control of herself.

"We should at least give you first aid or something!" Natsumi Torii insisted.

"No time, we've got to go! As an onmyouji, my first priority is your safety! Come on," she brushed off her offer and opened the door again. "It's better if those two stay as they are and I won't have to explain. I can still take Shima-kun."

"Alright," Saori agreed and she and Natsumi went over to Kiyotsugu to haul him up.

While going outside, Yura thought back to how an entranced Shima had reacted when she finally found him and unwisely sent away Tanro. Thanks to the Yuki Onna's freezing, sharp fragments of ice were still scattered around where she met him and he had stabbed her the moment she came within spitting distance, aiming for a vital point until she swung to one side. Then he had kicked her in the stomach and it was upon summoning Tanro again as her knee did not allow her to defend herself properly at all, that she managed to restrain him, knock him out and bring him back. While having Rokuson do the job, there had been three anthropomorphic crows she had come across, very near the resort and seen two of them holding the arms of a youkai with a horse-shaped skull on his head.

The boy had asked her to exterminate them while she watched them from the ground but before she could reply with anything, the three crow youkai had announced a truce and flown off with greater speed. It had been too close to the resort for comfort and she had immediately rushed back.

She had been highly unprepared for this pain and was fighting the urge to scream, still feeling cold from her other battle: in short, it was clear as day that more training, more preparation and careful thinking were only barely within her current capability. It was time to retreat.

"Let's go!" she announced once the organizer of the trip and the girls were safely atop Rokuson, looking uneasy, and she was on Tanro with Shima. Upon her command, the deer sprang upward, making the riders go into peals of frightened squealing and the wolf started running.

* * *

The force of her own blizzard had outdone her. It was a humiliating way to be defeated although the girl had proven far more resilient than this Yuki Onna expected. Blearily gazing up at the frozen haven Fear had created, disregarding the small stream of blood running down from her forehead as it would heal very soon, she also noticed someone bending over her, blinking twice to make sure it was who she thought it was.

"W-Waka?" escaped her tired body as she looked into piercing red eyes that were narrowing as they swept over her form.

A quiet, deep and threatening murmur was all he seemed willing to reply with.

"Who did this to you, Yuki Onna?"

* * *

**Author Notes: So far the arcs are going differently than in the anime and manga. Mezumaru targeted Yura directly for what she did to Gozumaru by making Shima a puppet and then decided to head to the hot springs, only to get caught by the reliable Sanba Garasu. You will all remember which character the anime was centered on as well as the manga and I thought people would like a change though I don't think I did this well at all. I am sorry because I might end up disappointing you.**

**I was willing to write more but context wise only this much can fit into the title of this chapter. The real confrontation will begin in Ukiyoe anyway. The title means snow battle and it is actually a snowball fight competition in Japan as a sport. Oh and PLEASE SEE, I am aware of the inconsistencies in my writing style with Japanese terms and their translation sometimes being used instead of the other. Please bear with me, I am still working on a definite style or if anyone can help me, please do.**


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